&  to 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


MOUNT   WASHINGTON    IN    SPRING. 
The  home  of  the  Peabody  bird. 


FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF 
ROADSIDE 


# 


THE  •  FLOWERS  •  SHRUBS 
BIRDS  •  AND  •  INSECTS 


BY 

F.   SCHUYLER   MATHEWS 

AUTHOR   OK   FAMILIAR    FLOWERS    OF    FIELD   AND   GARDEN,   FAMILIAR 
TREES   AND   THEIR    LEAVES,    THE    BEAUTIFUL    FLOWER    GARDEN,   ETC. 


WITH  ONE  HUNDRED  AND  SIXTY  DRAWINGS 
BY  THE  AUTHOR,  AND  MANY  OF  THE  SONGS 
OF  OUR  COMMON  BIRDS  AND  INSECTS  :  :  :  :  : 


NEW    YORK 
D.     APPLETON    AND    COMPANY 

1897 


COPYRIGHT,  1897, 
BY  D.   APPLETON  AND  COMPANY. 


PKEFACE. 


IT  might  be  possible  to  find  a  wider  field  for  the 
study  of  Nature  than  the  highway,  but  in  many  re- 
spects certainly  not  a  better  one ;  for,  if  we  keep  on 
traveling,  we  will  have  eventually  seen  and  heard 
about  everything  that  is  worth  seeing  and  hearing  in 
the  wide  world. 

What  kind  of  a  country  is  that  without  a  road  ? 
Hardly  an  interesting  or  beautiful  one,  and  very 
probably  a  barren,  trackless  waste ;  certainly  not  a 
wilderness,  for  that,  with  its  wealth  of  wild  life,  its 
solemn  forests  and  majestic  mountains,  is  most  fre- 
quently the  objective  point  for  which  the  road  was 
built. 

The  road  will  lead  us  everywhere ;  to  the  top  of 
the  loftiest  mountain,  to  the  margin  of  the  sea, 
across  peat  bogs,  through  primeval  forests,  over 
green  meadows,  along  ferny  pastures,  down  shady 
glens,  over  pleasant  hills,  beside  silvery  lakes  and 
gliding,  shining  rivers,  over  rushing  brooks,  and, 


^,350^56 


iv       FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

finally — we  must  read  the  next  guideboard,  for  that 

tells  where  the  end  is — "  To town,"  just  the 

place  we  wish  to  get  out  of,  so  we  can  see  some- 
thing. 

Yes,  see  something  else  besides  brick  walls  and 
stone  pavements,  and  hear  something  different  from 
the  ceaseless  din  of  the  busy,  restless  town.  How 
delightful  to  hear  and  know  the  voice  of  every  bird, 
and  to  see  and  know  the  face  of  every  flower,  as  we 
pass  over  the  highway  which  crosses  the  open  fields ! 
We  know  the  whistle  of  the  locomotive,  but  we  do 
not  recognize  the  whistle  of  the  peeping  hyla  in 
spring.  We  may  know  the  chirp  of  the  English 
sparrow,  but  the  voice  of  the  Peabody  bird,  his 
American  cousin,  is  an  unfamiliar  one.  There  is 
yarrow,  tansy,  thorn  apple,  and  wild  carrot  in  every 
empty  lot  within  the  city  limits;  all  these  we  can 
name,  although  each  is  a  tramp  from  the  old  coun- 
try, but  our  own  dainty  pipsissewa  and  twin  flower 
are  strange,  new  characters.  It  is  well  that  there  is 
much  for  some  of  us  to  learn. 

Fortunately,  there  are  extremely  few  who  know 
every  wild  flower  and  who  can  name  every  shrub 
by  its  leaf,  and  every  bird,  frog,  cricket,  and  grass- 
hopper by  his  song.  If  there  were  such  a  man,  how 
intolerably  wise  he  would  be  !  The  world  is  wide, 
and  creation  is  infinite ;  we  should  not  expect  to 


PREFACE.  V 

know  everything  under  the  sun.  There  is  not  and 
there  never  was  a  student  of  Nature  so  perfectly 
gifted  and  equipped  that  he  could  master  all  the 
branches  of  his  profession.  Practical  and  theoretical 
knowledge  are  rarely,  if  ever,  fully  and  equally  de- 
veloped. The  patience  and  ability  to  pursue  a  thor- 
oughly systematical  course  of  investigation  is  pos- 
sessed by  very  few;  a  penetrative  mind  may  be 
greatly  hampered  in  the  search  for  truth  by  an  im- 
perfectly developed  sense  of  tone  and  color.  So  far 
as  tone  and  color  are  concerned,  there  are  very  few 
people,  anyway,  who  can  hear  and  see  with  absolute 
accuracy.  How  many  are  there  who,  without  in- 
strumental aid,  can  whistle  with  perfect  pitch  the 
key  of  C  ?  How  many  can  remember  a  given  color 
and  match  it  by  memory  months  later  ?  Yet  the 
ability  to  do  either  of  these  things  unquestionably 
belongs  to  the  perfectly  gifted  and  equipped  student 
of  Nature;  but  even  with  this  ability,  there  is  still 
nearly  everything  for  the  student  to  master  if  he 
would  really  know  Nature.  There  are  a  thousand 
facts  never  to  be  learned  from  books,  which  only 
grassy  meadows  and  dimly  lit  forests  can  teach ;  yet 
it  is  quite  as  true  that  one  may  live  under  the  shadow 
of  the  forest  for  a  lifetime,  and  through  lack  of 
interest  never  learn  the  secret  of  its  hidden  life. 

So  it  happens  that  a  fullness  of  wisdom  can  never 


vi       FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

be  possessed  by  any  one  individual ;  as  a  consequence, 
complete  knowledge  accrues  through  a  number  of 
channels  each  one  of  which  is  supplied  by  some  spe- 
cialist; but  the  source  of  all  knowledge  is  Nature. 
Ours,  then,  is  the  boundless  opportunity  of  learning 
directly  from  the  borders  of  the  road  many  simple 
and  interesting  facts;  I  say  boundless,  because  the 
small  beginning  opens  expansively  toward  a  larger 
study  of  Nature,  which  becomes  more  and  more 
attractive  the  further  we  advance. 

One  of  the  first  things  which  impresses  the  ob- 
server of  Nature  is  her  infinitude.  There  is  a  new 
kind  of  a  bug  on  some  stick  or  stone  in  every  county 
we  enter.  There  are  countless  miniature  butterflies 
(Hesperia)  flitting  among  the  weeds  and  grasses,  no 
two  of  which  are  alike.  A  well-known  butterfly 
crosses  our  path,  and  scarcely  is  he  gone  before  two 
new  ones  appear,  neither  of  which  we  can  recollect 
ever  having  seen  before.  The  tree  toad's  familiar 
voice  pipes  in  the  swamp,  but  there  are  other  voices 
piping  with  it  whose  origin  we  can  not  trace  to  their 
proper  source.  To  every  one  thing  we  know,  or 
think  we  know,  there  are  twenty  others  which  we 
are  quite  sure  we  do  not  know.  A  wild  rose,  we 
thought,  was  simply  a  wild  rose ;  but  we  learn  that 
there  are  a  dozen  species,  each  one  of  which  has  a 
very  distinct  character  of  its  own.  Eglantine  we 


PREFACE.  Yii 

thought  we  knew,  but  here  is  a  specimen  closely 
resembling  it  which  proves  to  be  quite  a  different 
flower.  The  little  frog  called  the  Savannah  cricket 
chirps  his  cricketlike  chirp  in  New  Jersey,  and  we 
imagine  we  hear  him  in  New  Hampshire ;  but  no — it 
is  another  larger  frog  with  a  similar  voice.  We 
thought  a  cricket  was  simply  a  cricket  with  a  chirp 
the  same  the  world  over ;  not  so !  there  are  crickets 
and  crickets,  and  each  species  has  it  own  song.  The 
whip-poor-will  certainly  seems  to  sing  the  same 
familiar  old  tune  North  and  South ;  perhaps  he  does, 
but  in  three  or  four  evenings,  after  having  listened 
attentively,  we  discover  that  every  song  is  different, 
not  only  in  key,  but  in  construction,  octaves  occur- 
ring in  some,  and  thirds  or  fifths  occurring  in  others. 
No  two  robins  sing  precisely  the  same  melody ;  no 
two  "Wilson  thrushes  roll  out  their  double-toned  notes 
in  exactly  the  same  way. 

Always  variety,  endless  variety  ;  never  any  sense- 
less repetition  in  Nature ;  she  gives  us  a  serial  story 
which  is  never  fully  told.  Month  succeeds  month, 
chapter  succeeds  chapter,  and  ever  there  is  something 
new.  The  few  records  contained  in  the  following 
pages  are  only  an  introduction  to  a  boundless  world 
whose  story  would  fill  a  library  of  astounding  magni- 
tude !  But  the  little  that  I  have  given  comes  straight 
from  the  country  highways  and  byways,  and  many 


viii    FAMILIAR  FEATURES   OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

things  are  drawn  beside  the  pictures  of  their  own 
homes. 

I  hope  the  scraps  of  music  which  I  have  intro- 
duced will  stimulate  a  little  interest  in  a  somewhat 
neglected  phase  of  wild  life.  We  certainly  have  very 
meager  records  of  bird  music,  and  until  the  notes  of 
our  singing  birds  are  completely  and  fully  recorded, 
we  will  never  possess  a  complete  knowledge  of  the 
birds  themselves.  However  imperfect  the  average 
ear  is  in  catching  and  retaining  a  musical  tone,  it  is 
impossible  to  believe  that  there  are  many  too  dull  to 
distinguish  apart  the  songs  of  the  warbling  and  the 
red-eyed  vireos.  We  might  as  well  persuade  our- 
selves that  a  person  with  average  good  eyesight  can 
not  tell  a  square  apart  from  a  triangle.  I  might  record 
a  dozen  songs  of  as  many  red-eyed  vireos,  and  although 
each  would  be  different  from  the  other,  the  general 
principle  of  construction  would  remain  the  same  in 
all.  A  record  of  the  warbling  vireo's  music  would 
also  reveal  its  individuality.  To  the  unfortunate  per- 
son who  could  not  read  music  the  difference  in  the 
appearance  of  the  written  music  of  these  two  birds 
would  not  only  be  perfectly  apparent,  but  as  marked 
as  the  difference  between  a  triangle  and  a  square. 

I  regret  that  the  limits  of  the  book  would  not  en- 
able me  to  include  many  other  birds,  crickets,  and 
frogs ;  their  music  is  interesting  and  beautiful ;  but  I 


PREFACE.  ix 

had  to  draw  the  line  somewhere,  and  as  a  consequence 
the  bright-winged,  sweet-songed  redstart,  and  the 
graceful,  clucking  American  cuckoo,  which,  by  the 
way,  is  not  a  bit  like  its  European  relative,  for  it  does 
not  steal  a  inarch  on  other  birds'  nests — these  fell  on 
the  other  side  of  the  line ! 

The  record  of  the  music  of  Swainson's  thrush  is 
meager  but  reliable ;  that  of  the  hermit  thrush  does 
full  justice  to  his  musical  thirds  but  not  to  his  bril- 
liant fifths.  The  song  sparrow,  with  the  prominent 
spot  in  the  middle  of  his  breast  which  is  easily  dis- 
tinguished by  the  aid  of  the  opera  glass,  is  fairly  rep- 
resented by  his  music ;  the  other  sparrows  are  legion, 
and  would  require  a  volume  for  anything  like  a  com- 
plete record.  One  of  them,  however,  is  separated 
from  all  the  rest  by  the  simple  and  striking  character 
of  his  song.  The  white-throated  sparrow,  or  Peabody 
bird,  as  he  is  called,  is  an  extremely  interesting  little 
fellow  who,  if  we  respond  to  his  call,  will  follow  us 
for  a  mile  or  more,  singing  from  treetop  to  treetop ; 
and  those  who  are  willing  to  undertake  the  arduous 

O 

climb  through  Tuckerman's  Ravine  at  the  foot  of 
Mount  Washington  for  the  sake  of  a  charming  bit  of 
bird  music  and  grand  mountain  scenery  will  be  amply 
repaid  for  their  toilsome  jaunt  by  some  of  his  sweet- 
est melodies. 

I  desire  to  express  my  grateful  acknowledgments 


X        FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF   THE  ROADSIDE. 

to  Dr.  B.  L.  Robinson  and  his  assistants,  Mr.  Fernald 
and  Mr.  Greenman,  who  gave  me  convenient  access 
to  many  specimens  of  the  Harvard  herbarium;  to 
Mr.  Samuel  Henshaw  of  the  Agassiz  Museum,  who 
provided  me  with  many  of  the  entomological  speci- 
mens which  I  have  sketched ;  and  to  Mr.  W.  Faxon, 
without  whose  advice  my  bird  sketches  would  have 
lacked  certain  important  points.  I  should  also  ex- 
plain that  the  unusual  employment  of  capitals  in  the 
specific  names  of  birds,  a  proceeding  contrary  to  orni- 
thological rule,  is  due  to  an  effort  to  maintain  consist- 
ency throughout  the  book ;  as  there  are  more  flowers 
than  birds  mentioned,  it  seemed  to  me  advisable  to 
adopt  the  botanist's  principle  with  reference  to 
names. 

But  after  all,  "What's  in  a  name?"  If  the 
flower  and  the  bird  are  unmistakably  identified,  all  is 
properly  put.  The  best  thing  about  the  hermit 
thrush  is  his  inimitable,  silvery  song ;  the  worst  thing 
about  him  is  his  ponderous  Latin  name  !  If  I  could 
illuminate  his  music  as  it  deserved,  the  notes  would 
be  of  burnished  gold  set  in  bars  of  silver  ! 

F.  SCHUYLEE  MATHEWS. 

EL  FUREIDIS,  BLAIR,  CAMPTON,  N.  H. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I. — EARLY  WILD  FLOWERS,  CATKINS,  AND  SPRING  PEEPERS        1 
IT. — EARLY  FLOWERING  SHRUBS          .        .        .        .        .25 
III. — SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY — CHERRIES, 

BRAMBLES,  ETC 44 

IV. — SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY — THE  WILD 

ROSE,  ETC 56 

V. — THE  WOODLAND  ROAD— SHRUBS  AND  FLOWERS  BELONG- 
ING TO  THE  HEATH  FAMILY 71 

VI. — MEADOW  SINGERS .86 

VII. — THE  LITTLE  SONGSTERS — THE  YELLOWBIRD,  SPARROWS, 

AND  PHOZBE  BIRD 107 

VI  [I. — BIRDS  WITH  UNMUSICAL  VOICES    .        .        .        .        .    120 

IX. — BIRDS    OF   BRILLIANT    FEATHERS — HUMMING   BIRD,  JAY, 

BLUEBIRD.    TANAGER,    ORIOLE,    ETC.  .  .  .      137 

X. — WOODLAND    SINGERS — THE     THRUSHES,    VIREO,    AND 

PEABODY  BIRD 155 

XI. — IN  LEAFY  JUNE — GREEN  LEAVES  AND  A  FEW  BEETLES 

AND    BUTTERFLIES 174 

XII.— THE  TALL   MIDSUMMER  WEEDS — MEMBERS  OF  THE  COM- 
POSITE   FAMILY          .  .  .  ...  .191 

XIII. — THE    BEES    WHICH    WE    PASS   BY 207 

XIV. — NATURE'S  COLOR  ON  MOUNTAIN,  MEADOW,  AND  WOOD- 
LAND        220 

XV.— GOLDEN-ROD  AND  ASTERS 229 

XVI. — AUTUMN  FLOWERS,  SQUIRRELS,  AND  AUTUMN  COLORS  .  245 

X! 


LIST   OF  FULL-PAGE   ILLUSTKATIONS. 


PAGE 

Mount  Washington  in  spring— The  home  of  the  Peabody 

bird         .          .         ....          .          Frontispiece 

The    meadows    of   Plymouth,   N.  H. — "Spring  peepers," 

Hyla  pickeringii     ...         .         .         .         .         .19 

Sleepy  Hollow,  Westchester  County,  N.  Y. — The  Savannah 

cricket,  Acris  gryllus     .......       20 

Sankaty  Head  light,  Nantucket,  Mass.         .'      .         .         .       57 
Mount  Pocomoonshine,  Adirondacks,  Essex  County,  N.  Y. 

— The  bearberry    . .75 

The  battle  ground  and  bridge,  Concord,  Mass.    .         .         .       79 
The  Highlands  of  the   Hudson,  at  West  Point,   Orange 

County,  N.  Y. — The  tree  cricket,  QEcanthus  niveus  .  88 
Eagle  Cliff,  Franconia  Notch,  White  Mountains,  N.  H.  .  91 
The  Highlands  of  Navesink,  Monmouth  County,  N.  J. — 

Katydids,  Cyrtophyllus  concavus   and   Microcentrum 

retinervis        .         .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .     101 

The  Lurgan  Road,  Delaware  Valley,  Buck's  County,  Pa. — 

The  yellowbird       .         .        .        .        .        .     ,    .         .111 

Muskingum  drive,  Marietta,  Washington  County,  Ohio — 

The  chipping  sparrow .115 

Clinton  River,   Pontiac,   Oakland  County,   Mich. — Phoebe 

bird 118 

xiii 


xiv     FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

FACING 
PAGE 

Huron  River,  near  Ann  Arbor,  Washtenaw  County,  Mich. 

—The  chickadee .  .125 

Dixville  Notch,  Coos  County,  N.  H.— The  screech  owl  .  134 
Road  near  Dodsonville,  Highland  County,  Ohio — Indigo 

bird        .        .        ....        ...        .148 

Mount  Lafayette,  Franconia  Notch,  Grafton  County,  N.  H. 

—The  hermit  thrush  .  »  .  .  .  f  .  .  .163 
The  Indian  Pass,  Adirondack  Mountains,  Essex  County, 

N.  Y.— Swainson's  thrush 168 

Shelving  Rock,  Madison,  Jefferson  County,  Ind. — The 

black  swallow-tailed  butterfly 184 

Big  Indian,  Catskill  Mountains,  Ulster  County,  N.  Y. — 

Yellow  butterfly,  Colias  philodice 186 

The  Lowlands— Joe-Pye  weed      .        .        .        .        .        .196 

The  Franconia  Notch,  from  Campton,  Grafton  County, 

N.  H.      .         ......       >        ....     207 

Willows  beside  the  road,  Thornton,  Grafton  County,  N.  H.     221 
Gray  birches  in  sunlight,  after  a  shower      .        .         .         .222 

In  strong  sunlight.  A  road  in  Illinois.  Afternoon  .  .  226 
Merrimac  River,  near  Newburyport,  Mass. — Ground  nut, 

Apios  tuberosa       .        .        .        ...        .        .        .     246 

Lake  Harriet,  Minneapolis,  Hennepin  County,  Minn.— 

Gentiana  puberula 248 


FAMILIAR 
FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


The  Pioneer  of  Spring. — Skunk  Cabbage  (Symplocarpus  fcetidus). 

CHAPTER  I. 

EAKLT    WILD    FLOWERS,    CATKINS,    AND    SPRING 
PEEPERS. 

THE  borders  of  the  road  are  like  the  embroidered 
margin  of  a  fine  garment,  full  of  beautiful  and  elabo- 
rate detail.  If  I  wished  within  a  limited  space  of 
time  to  gather  a  variety  of  wild  flowers,  I  should 
follow  the  highway  and  leave  rolling  meadows  and 
rocky  slopes  to  themselves ;  for,  sooner  or  later,  each 
condition  peculiar  to  the  flower  of  the  hillside,  forest, 


2        FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

field,  and  swamp  I  should  be  sure  to  encounter  in  an 
extended  tour  along  the  public  road. 

Unfortunately,  we  quite  often  pass  on  our  way 
with  unobservant  eyes.  The  dandelion  spreads  its 
wealth  of  gold  at  our  feet,  and  we  do  not  stoop 
to  notice  it;  probably  if  this  wealthiest  of  all  the 
golden  wild  flowers  was  endowed  with  a  voice,  it 
would  reproach  us  in  the  words  of  the  prophet, 
"  Is  it  nothing  to  you,  all  ye  that  pass  by  ? " 
And  we  might  have  to  reply  with  perfect  candor, 
"  Nothing ;  our  world  is  not  a  world  of  dandelions." 
But  if  we  should  pause  to  examine  the  wonderful 
golden  flower  under  a  powerful  magnifying  glass, 
we  might  discover  a  new  world  of  absorbing  in- 
terest, a  very  familiar  one  to  our  fellow-traveler 
on  the  highway,  the  burly  bumblebee ;  for  her,* 
at  least,  the  dandelion  is  a  mine  of  wealth,  a 
golden  storehouse  filled  with  riches  of  pollen  and 
nectar ! 

The  dandelion  is  the  richest  but  not  the  earliest 
flower  of  spring:  there  are  many  others  which  appear 
on  the  roadside  much  earlier.  In  the  cold,  wet  hol- 
low the  ill-scented  skunk  cabbage  (Symplocarpus 
foztidus)  is  a  pioneer,  and  long  before  April  it  has 
passed  its  prime  and  become  unsightly  in  its  miry 

*  The  bumblebee  of  spring  is  nearly  always  a  "  queen." 


EARLY  WILD  FLOWEKS,    CATKINS. 


retreat;  in   its    place    the    marsh   marigold  (Caltha 
palustris)  appears,  a  flower  with  scarcely  less  gold  in 
its  cup  than  the  dandelion  possesses.     But  the  ear- 
liest wild    flower   of    spring  is 
undoubtedly  the    hepatica    or 
liverwort    (Hepatica   triloba) ; 
this  dainty,  purplish  white  flow  - 
er    appears    before    its 
new  leaves  (the  large 
purple -blotched  ones 
are  last  year's ;   the 
new   ones    are    tiny 
and  fuzzy)  sometime 
in  early  April,  next 
to  a  lingering  bit  of 
snow,     and      among 
the   withered  leaves  be-  Hepatica' 

neath  the  trees  at  the  woodland  border  of  the  road. 
I  have  found  the  hepatica  in  some  seasons  earlier 
than  the  trailing  arbutus  (Epigcea  repens),  but  this 
is  a  matter  of  personal  experience.  William  Ham- 
ilton Gibson  asserts  positively  that  the  flower  is 
really  the  first  to  appear,  and  I  believe  he  is  quite 
right.  It  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  pass 
the  hepatica  without  noticing  it,  so  closely  does  it 
snuggle  among  the  withered  leaves ;  on  this  account 
I  am  inclined  to  believe  it  comes  and  goes  quite  un- 


FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE   ROADSIDE. 


discovered,  while  the  conspicuous  arbutus  never  fails 
to  attract  attention. 

The  bloodroot  (Sanguinaria  Canadensis)  is  an- 
other early  April  flower,  whose  white  blossom  ol 
poppylike  delicacy  expands  before  the  leaves ;  then 
there  is  the  rue  anemone  (Anemonella  thalictroides\ 
whose  flowers  grow  in  clusters,  and  the  windflower 
or  wood  anemone  (Anemone  quinquefolia)*  whose 
flowers  grow  singly  ;  both  of 
these  appear  side  by  side  while 
the  bloodroot  is  still  in  blossom. 
If  there  is  a  rocky  bank  near, 
here  we  may  also  look  for  the 
rock  flower  (Saxifraga  Virginien- 
sis)  with  its  spikes  of  small  white 
blossoms.  Farther  along  we  will  be 
sure  to  find  the  miniature 
whitlow  grass  (Draba  verna\ 
whose  four  white  petals  are 
deeply  notched  ;  this  is  pre-emi- 
nently a  roadside  character ;  in- 
deed, it  is  a  regular  tramp  which 
has  crossed  the  ocean  and  is  apparently  still  on  the 
way  to  other  parts.  This  flower  blooms  as  late  as 
May  also  ;  we  will  find  it  on  sandy  or  waste  ground. 


Whitlow  Grass. 


*  Also  named  Anemone  nemorosa. 


EARLY  WILD  FLOWERS,   CATKINS.  5 

It  belongs  to  the  Mustard  family,  which  is  character- 
ized by  four-petaled,  flowers. 

The  spring    beauty    (Claytonia    Virginica)    fre- 
quently appears  as  early  as  the  first  of  April  in  south- 
ern  New    England  and  New 
York  ;    its     beautiful,     pale, 
pink -white  blossoms   veined 
with    a    deeper     pink,     are 
among  our  prettiest  wild  flow- 
ers.    I   should  expect  to  find  the 
Claytonia,  perhaps  with  a  bumble- 
bee visitor  tumbling  over  its 
frail  petals,  in  the  rich  grassy 
borders  of  the  road  near  the 
edge    of     the    tiny    streamlet 
that  finds  its  way  to  the  hollow 
where    the    overflowing   brook 
hurries  along. 

I  have   already  alluded  to  the 
bumblebee  as  "  she."     As  a  matter 
of  fact,  in    spring    these    big,   golden  - 
hipped    creatures    are    generally   queen 
bees   searching   for  pollen   and   nectar. 
The  spring  beauty  is  precisely  the  kind   Spring  Beauty. 
of  a  flower  which  needs  the  visit  of  the 
bumblebee ;  its  pistil  develops  the  graceful,  curled 
tips  (which  are  simply  the  portals  leading  to  the  im- 


FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


mature  seed  at  the  base),  too  late  to  receive  the  pollen 
from  the  earlier  developed  anther !  My  drawing  will 
show  the  immature  pistil  with  its  "  closed  doors  "  at 
the  time  the  anthers  which  bear  the  pollen  are  ripe, 
and  also  the  mature  split-topped  pistil  whose  open 
portals  are  prettj  sure  to 
scrape  the  pollen  from  the 
visiting  bumblebee's  back. 
The  spring  beauty  is  not  a 
self -fertilized  plant ;  Nature 
has  so  arranged  matters  that 
the  bee  shall  bring  the  rip- 
ened pollen  from  one  flower 
to  the  ripened  pistil  of  an- 
other. 

Among  the  earliest  of  the 
violets  are  the  yellow  ones. 
The  round-leaved  violet  ( Vwla  rotundifolid)  is  per- 
haps the  earliest  of  all,  as  its  tiny  blossoms  appear 
in  Pennsylvania  soon  after  the  snow  has  gone.  This 
violet  grows  on  the  woodland  border,  and  we  will 
find  it  hugging  the  damp  rich  mold,  with  its  round- 
ish leaves  flat  upon  the  ground  ;  in  midsummer 
these  leaves  are  fully  two  inches  in  diameter.  The 
flower  is  pale  yellow  marked  with  madder-brown 
veins.  The  downy  yellow  violet  (  Viola  pubescens) 
grows  about  ten  inches  high ;  the  tiny  yellow  blos- 


Pistil  of  Spring  Beauty  :  A, 
immature ;  B,  mature. 


EARLY  WILD  FLOWERS,   CATKINS.  7 

som  is  borne  on  a  short  stem  which  issues  from  be- 
tween a  pair  of  leaves  fully  eight  inches  above  the 
ground.  Both  of  these  flowers  bloom  sparingly  in 
early  May  on  the  roadsides  of  the  Northern  States, 
but  neither  is  as  common  as  the  blue  violet  ( Viola 
cucullata),  which,  on  or  about 
Decoration  Day,  holds  exclu- 
sive possession  of  the  cold  wet 
ground  near  the  spring  or  the 
horse  trough. 

The  daintiest  spring  flower  of 
all,  I  think,  is  the  one  which  bears 
the  rather  rude  but  suggestive 
name,  Dutchman's  breeches 
(Dicentra  cucullaria).  This 
beautiful  little  plant  is  fre- 
quently to  be  seen  on  the 
rocky  ledges  in  the  valley  of 
the  Hudson  Kiver  and  in  the  Round.leaved  Violflt 
rich  woods  westward.  It  is  also 
common  in  some  parts  of  Central  Park,  New  York, 
and  Prospect  Park,  Brooklyn.  The  blossom  is  white 
tipped  with  creamy  yellow,  and  the  extremely  orna- 
mental foliage  is  blue-green.  Dr.  Abbott  says  :  "  To 
think  that  such  a  plant  should  be  called  *  Dutchman's 
breeches ' !  If  this  abomination  were  dropped  from 
Gray's  Manual,  perhaps  in  time  a  decent  substitute 


8        FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

would  come  in  use.  But  why  not  call  it  dicentra  ? " 
I  should  answer,  because  to  the  great  majority  of 
people  any  name  foreign  to  our  language  is  either 


Dutchman's  Breeches. 


enigmatical  or  meaningless.  Dutchman's  breeches 
means  something,  and  it  does  not  seem  quite  abom- 
inable if  we  look  at  it  from  the  right  point  of  view. 


EARLY  WILD  FLOWERS,    CATKINS.  9 

I  like  the  name  because  of  its  Knickerbocker  flavor, 
and  although  it  is  suggestive  of  a  bit  of  rude  hu- 
mor, it  is  not  without  a  certain  poetic  significance. 
The  word  Dutchman,  to  be  sure,  is  so  loosely  used 
nowadays  that  it  does  not  suggest  much  more  than 
the  unromantic  personality  of  the  prosaic  corner 
grocer,  but  I  have  yet  to  find  the  American  wno  is 
ashamed  of  his  Dutch  blood  !  So  I  do  not  think  we 
need  be  ashamed  because  one  of  our  wild  flowers 
bears  the  name  "  Dutchman's  breeches."  *  Breeches, 
it  is  true,  sounds  a  bit  unrefined,  but  I  insist  that  it 
is  poetic ;  substitute  the  modern  "  pants  "  for  it, 
imagine,  if  possible,  Hendrick  Hudson  clothed  in 
them,  and,  presto  !  all  the  poetry  attached  to  the 
romantic  vigils  in  the  Catskills  is  gone.  There  are 
two  flowers  which  are  inseparably  associated  in  my 
mind  with  Rip  Van  Winkle  and  Hendrick  Hud- 
son— one  is  Dutchman's  breeches  and  the  other  is 
Indian  pipe ;  both  of  them  are  ghostly  white,  and 
both  are  commonly  found  in  the  country  of  the 
Dutch  settlers.  Why  not  let  Dutchman's  breeches 

*  That  these  at  least  possessed  magnificent  proportions  the 
following  historical  incident  certainly  proves  beyond  a  shadow  of 
doubt :  Some  Indians  were  induced  by  a  settler  to  sell  for  a  small 
consideration  as  much  of  their  land  as  could  be  bounded  by  a  pair 
of  breeches.  To  their  chagrin  the  Dutchman  cut  his  ample 
breeches  into  narrow  strips,  and  sewing  these  together  formed 
with  them  so  long  a  strip  that  it  encompassed  several  acres  ! 


10      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


stand  in   commemoration   of   our   Dutch   ancestors  ? 
In  early  spring  the  dainty  flower 
lines   every  wooded   bank  which 
slopes  toward  the  Hudson  River. 
A  close  relative  of  Dicentra 
cucullaria    is    another    little 
spring  plant    called    squirrel 
corn  (Dicentra  Canaden- 
sis)  ;  this  bears  little  two- 
spurred,     heart  -  shaped, 
greenish     white     flowers 
tinged  with  pink,  which 
are   sweet-scented.      We 
will  find  the  squirrel  corn 
only  on  the  borders  of  rich 
woods   in  the  North ;   the  foliage  is 
like  that  of  its  relative,  and  its  roots 
bear  tiny  tubers  resembling  grains  of 
corn  (see  my  sketch  of  four  tubers). 
It  blooms  throughout  April. 

Still  another  early  spring  flower  is 
the  wild  ginger  (Asarum  Canadense). 
We  will  find  this  plant  on  the  edge  of 
the  wood  that  flanks  the  hillside. 
The  solitary  flower  is  dull  madder 
brown,  and  is  seen  close  to  the  ground 
where  the  two  leafstems  rise  to  the  large  furry  leaves 


Squirrel  Corn. 


EARLY  WILD  FLOWERS,   CATKINS.  H 

above  which  measure  four  or  five  inches  across  ;  these 
are  broad,  heart-shaped,  and  more  or  less  pointed. 
The  Canada  wild  ginger  is  quite 
common  northward  ;  its  aromat- 
ic, stinging  root- 
stock     has 
the  flavor 
of  ginger. 
While 
we    are   yet 
passing  through  the 
woodland    we    will     most 
likely    find    another    early 
flower,    the    mandrake    or 
May  apple   (Podophyllum 
peltatum) ;  this  blooms  in 
May.     The  drooping  white 
flower  with  half  a  dozen  or 

,  Wild  Ginger. 

more  petals  is  borne  between 

two  large  leaves  which  have  from  five  to  nine  lobes  ; 
the  plant  has  also  flowerless  stems  which  bear  only 
larger  leaves  supported  in  the  middle  like  an  um- 
brella. The  fruit,  which  ripens  in  July  and  appears 
like  a  tiny  lemon  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  is  edible ; 
but  both  leaves  and  roots  are  drastic  and  poisonous — 
so  says  Dr.  Gray.  As  for  the  fruit,  I  prefer  to  let  it 
alone  ;  it  is  simply  rank  ! 


12      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

The  most  conspicuous  flowers  which  appear  on  the 
roadside  in  early  spring  are  the  alder  and  willow  cat- 
kins. There  are  two  species  of  alder  which  are  corn- 


May  Apple. 

monly  found  on  the  borders  of  swamps  and  the  damp 
hollows  beside  the  highway ;  they  flower  in  early 
April  before  the  leaves  are  well  out.  The  flowers  are 


EARLY  WILD   FLOWERS,   CATKINS.  13 

of  two  kinds,*  sterile  and  fertile ;  the  former  elon- 
gated and  drooping  (a  nicely  adjusted  arrangement 
that  enables  the  pollen  to  drop  easily 
on  the  fertile  flowers  below),  and  the 
latter  ovoid  or  oblong  and  somewhat 
erect.  These  catkins  were  formed 
in  the  preceding  summer,  and 
passed  through  the  winter  in  a 
shape  resembling  a  tiny,  elongated 
green  cone  ;  now  they  appear  in 
plumy  clusters  on  the  still  leafless 
branchlets.  Should  we  happen  to 
jostle  the  alder  bush  a  cloud  of 
pollen  arises  from  the  sterile  flow- 
ers, which  probably  reaches  the 
fertile  ones  near  by,  and  thus  the 
latter  become  fertilized  ;  but  with- 
out doubt  a  few  early  bees  will 
find  the  pretty  ocher-yellow,  lav- 
ender-brown, and  greenish  yellow  cat- 
kins, and  these  will  carry  enough  pol- 
len on  their  backs  to  accomplish  what  Speckled  Alder 

Catkins. 

the  pollen  cloud  left  unfinished. 

The  spreckled  or  hoary  alder  (Alnus  incana)  is 
common  northward   and  westward  from   Massachu- 

*  The  alders  are  monoecious ;  that  is,  the  stamens  and  pistils 
are  in  separate  flowers  on  the  same  bush. 


FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


setts.  This  species  has  broad,  oval,  dark-green  leaves, 
sharply  and  irregularly  toothed,  which  are  whitish 
and  downy  beneath.  The  smooth  alder  (Alnus  ser- 
rulata)  is  found  southward  and 
south  westward  from  Massachu- 
setts ;  it  forms  dense 
thickets  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Yirginia 
on  the  borders  of 
swamps,  and  farther 
south  attains  a  height 
of  thirty-five  feet.  The 
leaves  are  obovate,  and 
green  on  both  sides ; 
they  are  usually  smooth, 
but  occasionally  downy 
beneath.  Alnus  incana  is  as 
common  along  the  roadsides  in 
northern  New  Hampshire  as 
Alnus  serrulata  is  in  southern 
Pennsylvania. 

The  willows  contribute  largely 
to  the  beauty  of  the  roadside  in 
spring  by  their  beautiful  golden- 
flecked  catkins.  The  glaucous  wil- 
low (Salix  discolor)  we  will  al- 
ways find  hanging  over  the  river's  brink  and  the 


A 

Glaucous  Willow  Cat- 
kins :  A,  sterile  flowers 
B,  fertile  flowers. 


EARLY  WILD  FLOWERS,   CATKINS. 


15 


fence  that  borders  the  marshy  meadow.  The  "pus- 
sies," about  an  inch  Jong,  appear  before  the  leaves  in 
earliest  spring ;  the  sterile  and  fertile  flowers  are  on 
separate  plants.  The  catkins,  which  eventually  at- 
tain a  length  of  one  and  a  half  inches, 
have  brown  scales  which  finally  become 
black ;  they  are  clothed  with  long 
shiny  or  silky  hairs.  The  prevail- 
ing color  of  the  mature  sterile 
flower  is  the  yellow  of  the  pol- 
len ;  the  fertile  flower  has  a 
softer,  silky  appearance,  with  less 
of  the  yellow  tone.  The  leaf  at 
maturity  is  from  two  to  five 
inches  long  and  at  least  one  inch 
wide,  irregularly  and  somewhat  remotely  toothed, 
smooth,  and  bright  green.  The  glaucous  willow 
grows  from  eight  to  fifteen  feet  high. 

The  prairie  willow  (Salix  humilis)  is  common  on 
dry  and  barren  ground  ;  the  small  catkins  are  from 
one  half  to  one  inch  long,  and  they  are  frequently 
bent  downward  or  outward  from  the  branchlets ; 
they  appear  before  the  leaves,  and  are  at  first 
silky  gray  and  at  last  yellowish ;  the  scales  are 
dark  brown.  The  leaf  at  maturity  is  from  one 
and  a  half  to  three  inches  long,  lance-shaped,  with- 
out teeth,  and  the  edge  is  often  crinkly  or  wavy. 


Gray  Willow  Catkins. 


16      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

This  species  grows  from  three  to  eight  feet 
high. 

The  dwarf  gray  willow  (Salix  tristis)  is  also  com- 
mon on  dry  ground  ;  the  catkins  are  very  small, 
about  half  an  inch  long,  globular  or  ovoid,  and 
loosely  flowered.  The  leaf  is  one  or  two  inches 
long,  without  teeth,  and  slightly  wavy-edged;  the 
leaves  are  crowded  on  the  branchlets.  This  species 
grows  from  one  to  one  and  a  half  feet  high  ;  in  gen- 
eral appearance  it  is  grayish,  and  for  that  reason 
is  sometimes  called  "  sage  willow."  It  is  frequent- 
ly found  in  the  thickets  which  border  the  mountain 
road. 

There  are  three  other  willows  whose  beautiful  cat- 
kins decorate  the  highway  borders  in  spring.  These 
are  the  shining  willow  (Salix  lucida\  a  shrub  from  six 
to  fifteen  feet  high,  common  on  the  banks  of  streams ; 
the  heart-leaved  willow  (Salix  cordata),  eight  to 
twenty  feet  high,  usually  found  in  wet  situations;  and 
the  long-beaked  willow  (Salix  rostrata),  eight  to  fif- 
teen feet  high,  very  common  on  slightly  moist  ground. 
The  first  species  (S.  lucidd),  has  large  showy,  yellow, 
sterile  catkins,  which  appear  later  than  the  broad, 
shiny,  sharply  toothed  leaves  ;  the  second  (8.  cordata) 
has  beautiful  yellow  catkins  appearing  at  the  sides  of 
the  stem  with  or  before  the  leaves,  which  are  usually 
heart-shaped  at  the  base ;  the  third  (8.  rostrata)  has 


EARLY  WILD  FLOWERS,   CATKINS.  17 

old-gold-yellow  catkins  appearing  with  the  leaves, 
which,  when  young,  are  velvety  and  of  a  rich  olive 
hue,  and  fruit  capsules  tapering  to  a  very  long  slender 
beak ;  this  last  species  is  common  on  both  dry  and 
wet  ground,  while  the  other  two  are  more  frequently 
found  on  the  borders  of  swamps. 

Now  that  we  are  in  the  vicinity  of  the  catkin-dec- 
orated swamp  we  must  not  pass  it  without  pausing  to 
listen  to  the  sweet  piping  voices  of  the  little  "  peep- 
ers "  (Hyla  Pickeringii) ;  these  tiny  ocher-yellow- 
brown,  smooth-skinned  frogs  are  scarcely  an  inch 
long,  yet  about  the  first  of  April,  when  at  five  in  the 
afternoon  the  orchestra  is  in  full  chorus,  their  shrill, 
ear-piercing  notes  have  no  equal  in  all  musical  nature, 
both  as  to  quality  and  quantity.  The  first  song  of 
spring  is  either  that  of  the  bluebird  or  Pickering's 
frog;*  it  is  mere  chance  which  we  will  hear  first. 
We  can  scarcely  see  the  little  "  old-gold  "  creatures, 
for  only  their  bulgy  eyes  and  the  tips  of  their  noses 
are  above  the  surface  of  the  pond,  and  if  we  approach 
the  margin  these  instantly  disappear.  They  are  not 
always  in  the  water,  though,  for  we  might  be  fortu- 
nate enough  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  one  perched  on  an 


*  The  frog  called  Acris  gryllus  also  sings  quite  as  early.    Ac- 
cording to  an  old  saying,  the  peepers  must  be  silenced  thrice  by 
the  frost  before  the  spring  weather  comes  to  stay.    As  a  rule,  they 
sing  when  the  mercury  stands  between  50°  and  60°. 
3 


18      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

inclining  weed  stem,  or  seated  on.  the  margin  among 
the  leaves  and  grasses. 

I  know  of  no  bird  except  the  white-throated  spar- 
row which  sings  continuously  as  "  high  "  as  Picker- 
ing's frog.  His  song  is  usually  pitched  in  the  key  of 
F  minor,  and  his  note  is  E  slurred  to  F  three  octaves 
1.72  ,  above  middle  C.  Some- 

JT*    f**  *^    r  J_i     times,  however,  I  detect 

I  •      I        '         I      J     other  tones  pitched  low- 
jninor 

er,  perhaps  in  D  ;  but  E 

is  generally  the  dominant  note,  in  proof  of  which  I 
will  give  William  Hamilton  Gibson's  concurrent  tes- 
timony. He  says,  "  The  phee,  phee,  phee,  phee  is 
uttered  in  the  note  E  four  octaves  above  middle 
C."  But  Mr.  Gibson  would  have  more  correctly 
said  E  in  the  fourth  octave  above,  because  the  treble 
register  ends  at  the  fourth  C  above  the  middle 
one. 

How  phenomenally  high  both  the  Peabody  bird 
and  the  Pickering's  frog  sing  we  quickly  learn  if  we 
go  to  the  piano  and  strike  the  highest  E  and  B  of  the 
instrument  (C  is  the  final  note) ;  the  bird  outstrips 
the  frog  by  about  four  tones  and  reaches  B  with  ap- 
parent ease  and  undiminished  power.  After  long  cul- 
tivation I  have  succeeded  in  clearly  whistling  B  flat, 
but  with  greatly  reduced  force ;  yet  these  little  singers 
in  the  wooded  hollow  have  golden,  liquid  whistles 


THE    MEADOWS   OF 
PLYMOUTH,    N.  H. 

"SPRING   PEEPERS," 
HYLA   PICKERINGII. 


EARLY  WILD  FLOWERS,   CATKINS.  19 

beside  which  mine  is  as  "  sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling 
cymbal " ! 

Pickering's  hyla  leaves  the  swamp  in  early  July 
and  is  a  "  tree  toad  "  in  autumn ;  then  his  shrill  but 
less  vivacious  note  is  often  mistaken  for  that  of  a 
bird.  He  is  a  great  climber ;  each  of  his  toes  is  fur- 
nished with  a  little  circular  pad  by  the  aid  of  which  he 
can  hold  fast  to  a  slippery  surface.  Dr.  Abbott  gives 
a  surprising  account  of  the  climbing  powers  of  these 
tree  toads  ;  I  quote  what  he  says  :  "  They  are  seldom 
content  with  a  humble  perch,  and,  when  in  summer 
they  quit  their  aquatic  and  mud  life  for  an  arboreal 
one,  they  often  wander  to  the  very  highest  available 
resting  places  in  the  trees.  I  once  found  one  at  the 
very  top  of  a  tulip  tree,  at  least  sixty  feet  from  the 
ground."  My  drawing  of  Pickering's  frog  is  accom- 
panied by  a  sketch  of  a  pool  near  the  road  which 
crosses  the  Plymouth  meadows  (Plymouth,  K  H.). 
In  April,  about  five  in  the  afternoon  of  a  warm  day, 
this  charming  bit  of  meadow  road  is  "  set  to  music  " 
with  the  voices  of  a  thousand  Pickering's  frogs ! 

There  is  still  another  slender,  long-legged  swamp 
singer,  called  the  Savannah  cricket  (Acris  gryllus\ 
who  has  a  modified,  rattling  whistle.  The  Savannah 
cricket  is  about  an  inch  long  and  green  on  the  back, 
with  a  triangular  mark  on  the  head,  and  on  the  sides 
black  edged  with  cream-color.  These  colors  some- 


20      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

times  change  to  extremely  pale  tints.*  The  only 
"crickets"  which  I  have  ever  seen,  however,  were 
grass-green  and  decidedly  dark-spotted,  with  Jong 
narrow  heads  and  prominent  eyes.  This  little  frog 
also  sings  in  the  early  spring  in  the  same  orchestra 
with  the  other  peeper.  His  tones  are  not  so  pure, 
though,  and  they  are  pitched,  I  have  noticed,  in  a 
lower  key ;  they  are  loud,  but  not  sufficiently  so  to 
be  heard  at  a  great  distance.  The  Acris  gryllus 
has  a  rattling,  cricketlike  note,f  which  can  not 
possibly  be  mistaken  for  the  smooth,  liquid  whistle 
of  Pickering's  hyla.  He  remains  in  the  high  grasses 
surrounding  the  marsh,  and 
seldom  if  ever  ascends  trees. 
He  is  not  in  New  England. 

My  sketch  of  the  Sleepy 
Hollow  bridge  shows  just  one  of  those  swampy 
spots  in  which  the  Savannah  cricket  finds  a  spring 
retreat  exactly  suited  to  his  taste.  My  earliest  rec- 
ollection of  this  cricketlike  frog  is  associated  with 
this  old  roadway  and  the  grasses  and  rushes  which 


*  Like  the  chameleon,  the  tree  toad  changes  color  to  match  its 
surroundings,  of  course  as  a  protection  against  its  enemies.  Thus 
on  a  tree  trunk  the  creature  will  appear  brown,  but  among  the 
leaves  it  becomes  greenish. 

t  A  note  so  exactly  like  that  of  the  cricket  that  we  might  think 
it  was  a  cricket  singing ;  but  the  tone  is  less  shrill,  more  powerful, 
and  mellow. 


SLEEPY   HOLLOW,    WESTCHESTER 
CO.,    N.  Y. 

THE    SAVANNAH    CRICKET, 
ACRIS    GRYLLUS. 


EARLY  WILD  FLOWERS,   CATKINS.  21 

crowd  its  borders.  Here  in  early  spring  Acris  gryl- 
lus  "  crepitates "  during  the  twilight  hour  to  its 
heart's  content ;  here  also,  later  in  the  season,  the 
tree  toad  sings  his  pathetic,  persuasive,  "  bleating " 
song — a  song  which  lures  one  to  linger  by  the 
old  picket  fence  and  recall  Irving's  story  of  poor 
superstitious  Ichabod  Crane,  whose  cranium  came 
near  being  smashed  by  Brom  Bone's  terrible  pum- 
pkin. We  wonder  if  there  were  any  frogs  sing- 
ing on  that  eventful  autumn  evening!  I  have  no 
doubt  whatever  that  even  if  the  frogs  were  silent  the 
crickets  were  not,  and  certainly  CEcanthus  niveus 
must  have  sung  if  the  night  were  not  too  cold.  Irv- 
ing records  the  fact  that  Ichabod  did  hear  a  few  mid- 
night notes — "  occasionally  the  chirp  of  a  cricket,  or 
perhaps  the  guttural  twang  of  a  bullfrog  "  (but  this 
was  Rana  Catesbiana,  not  our  Acris)  "  from  a  neigh- 
boring marsh,  .  .  .  and  a  groan — it  was  but  the  rub- 
bing of  one  huge  bough  upon  another,  as  they  were 
swayed  about  by  the  breeze."  Poor  Ichabod  !  I  know 
just  how  he  must  have  felt,  for  the  rubbing  together 
of  two  big  tree  boughs  in  the  forest  at  nightfall  is 
about  the  most  ghostly,  blood-curdling  kind  of  music 
I  know  of ;  it  is  only  to  be  paralleled  by  the  hollow, 
grinding,  groaning  sound  of  a  ferryboat  as  it  clumsily 
enters  the  slip. 

Sleepy  Hollow  is  quite  as  quaint  and  sleepy  to-day 


22      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

as  it  was  years  ago  when  Irving  drew  its  picture  with 
his  inimitable  pen,  and  described  it  as  "  a  little  valley 
or  rather  lap  of  land  among  high  hills,  which  is  one 
of  the  quietest  places  in  the  whole  world.  A  small 
brook  glides  through  it  with  just  murmur  enough  to 
lull  one  to  repose ;  and  the  occasional  whistle  of  a 
quail  or  tapping  of  a  woodpecker  is  almost  the  only 
sound  that  ever  breaks  in  upon  the  uniform  tran- 
quillity." 

Later  in  the  spring  or  in  early  summer  we  will 
also   .hear  the   crepitating  —  in   plain   English,   rat- 
tling or  creaking  —  notes   of   the 
little  frog  called  Chorophilus  trise 
/  ^^jplg^v-^a      riatus ;  this  little  fellow  never 
leaves  the  swamp  for  the  trees, 

ChorovJiilus  triseriatus.  ,  .  . 

and     he     continues    his    song 

throughout  the  summer.  We  can  not  fail  to  recog- 
nize it  if  by  any  good  chance  we  can  gain  the  edge  of 
the  marsh  where  we  may  hear  one  singer's  voice  well 
separated  from  the  general  chorus.  It  has  a  rising 
inflection,  a 
moderate  cres-  QJ-6,°  minor 
cendo,  and  a 
limited  range, 
thus : 

The  quality  of  the  tones  can  not  be  conveyed  by 
note  ;  I  might  compare  it  to  the  scraping  of  the  teeth 


EARLY  WILD  FLOWERS,   CATKINS.  23 

of  a  comb,  one  end  of  which  is  wide  and  the  other 
narrow — a  comb,  in  fact,  shaped  like  the  steel  one  in  a 
music  box.  The  notes  are  not  whistled,  and  they  are 
therefore  entirely  unlike  those  of  Pickering's  hyla; 
they  are  also  not  vivacious  and  shrill,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, moderate  and  soothing.  The  song  of  this  frog 
must  not  be  confused  with  that  of  the  tree  toad  (Hyla 
versicolor)  which  we  hear  in  early  summer;  but  of 
the  tree  toad's  notes  I  will  have  something  to  say 
further  on. 

The  Chorophilus  triseriatus  is  about  an  inch  long ; 
he  has  slender  limbs  and  toes,  and  a  light  ash-gray 
body  striped  brown  ;  his  skin  beneath  is  yellow-white 
and  somewhat  granular ;  in  fact,  he  is  not  a  smooth 
frog  in  appearance  or  in  voice  !  This  species  is  com- 
mon in  the  Northwest  and  in  the  swampy  barrens  of 
southwestern  New  Jersey.  Mr.  E.  D.  Cope  has  also 
found  it  in  Gloucester  County,  N.  J.,  and  I  am  quite 
sure  I  have  heard  it  in  Monmouth  County ;  but  I 
do  not  recollect  having  heard  its  unmistakable  cres- 
cendo tones  in  New  England.  Like  the  Acris  and 
Pickering's  hyla,  it  sings  in  the  latter  part  of  March 
or  early  April,  but  it  continues  through  the  spring 
and  early  summer,  and  sometimes  it  can  be  heard  in 
the  warmest  part  of  the  day. 

Yet  another  musical  but  somewhat  harsh  note 
comes  to  our  ears  from  the  marsh  in  early  April ;  it 


24:      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


is  that  of  the  wood  frog  (JKana  sylvatica\  who  is 
brown-yellow  tan  color,  except  under  the  eye,  where 

there  is  a  black  streak.  This 
frog  is  about  two  inches 
long.  He  lives  in  the 
woods  throughout  the 
summer,  and  rare- 
ly, if  ever,  visits 
the  water  at  that 
time ;  but  during 
the  breeding  sea- 
son, about  the  mid- 
dle of  April  when 
the  weather  is  warm,  the  wooded  margin  of  the  pond 
will  resound  with  the  spasmodic,  hoarse,  clucking 
notes  of  this  sylvan  character — for  he  really  prefers 
the  wood  to  the  water.  Rana  sylvatica  is  common 
from  Maine  to  Ohio  and  Michigan. 


Wood  Frog. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EARLY-FLOWERING    SHRUBS. 

ON  the  banks  of  the  stream  along  which  the  road 
follows  appear,  in  April  or  May,  inconspicuous  clus- 
ters of  greenish  flowers  on  the  yet  leafless,  brown, 
prickly  branchlets  of  the  toothache  tree  (XantJiox- 
ylum  Americanum).  This  is  a  shrub  from  four  to 
twelve  feet  high,  bearing  compound  leaves  of  from 
five  to  nine  leaflets  (usually  seven),  which  are  almost 
if  not  entirely  without  teeth,  downy  when  young,  but 
growing  smooth.  All  parts  of  the  tree  are  pungent 
and  aromatic ;  if  the  leaves  are  crushed  they  yield  a 
strong  lemonlike  *  odor ;  this  is  also  very  strong  in 
the  fleshy  fruit,  which  is  about  the  size  and  shape  of 
peppercorns.  The  toothache  tree  is  frequently  seen 
in  cultivation ;  it  is  supposed  to  furnish  an  excellent 
remedy  for  toothache  and  neuralgia. 

A  near  relative  of  the  toothache  tree,  the  three- 
leaved  hop  tree  (Ptelea  trifoliata),  will  be  found  on 

*  An  odor  similar  to  that  of  the  lemon  verbena. 
25 


26      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


rocky  roadsides  in  Pennsylvania,  on  Long  Island,  and 
in  the  West  as  far  as  Minnesota.  This  shrub,  from 
six  to  eight  feet  high,  bears  on  the  tips  of  its  branch- 
lets  clusters  of  rather  unpleasantly 
scented,  four-  to  fi  ve-petaled  greenish 
white  flowers  in  early  June.  The 
composed  of  three 
leaflets  without 
teeth.  The  hop 
tree  is  very  beauti- 
ful in  spring  when  in 
bloom,  and  in  the  fall  its 
arge  clusters  of  decora- 
tive, hoplike  fruit  make 
it  a  charmingly  orna- 
mental shrub ;  it  is 
closely  related  to  the 
ailantus,  a  fact  not  difficult  to  re- 
alize after  one  has  noticed  the 
disagreeable  odor  of  the  blossoms ; 
but,  notwithstanding  this  slight  drawback,  the  hop 
tree  is  decorative  and  deserving  of  wide  cultivation. 

In  June  we  will  also  see  the  pretty  upright  green- 
ish yellow  flower  clusters  of  the  mountain  maple 
(Acer  spicatum)  on  the  tall,  branching,  slender, 
greenish  stems  of  this  shrub,  whose  dainty,  drooping, 
sharp-pointed  leaves  are  invariably  outlined  in  high 


Hop  Tree :  fruit  at  A. 


EARLY-FLOWERING  SHRUBS. 


relief  against  the  shaded  roadside  borders  of  late 
spring.  The  mountain  maple  rarely  grows  over 
fifteen  feet  high. 

Another  shrub  with  three  leaflets  like  the  hop 
tree  is  the  bladder  nut  (Staptiy- 
lea  trifolia).  This  is  com- 
monly seen  on  the  roadside, 
especially  among  the  thickets 
which  border  the  bog.  Its  pret- 
ty white  flowers  which  terminate 
the  slender  branchlets  in 
drooping  clusters  appear 
in  May.  The  leaflets 
(sometimes  there  are 
five)  are  toothed,  and  the 
main  stems  of  the  com- 
pound leaves  grow  oppo- 
site to  each  other.  The  blad- 
der nut  is  a  handsome 
shrub,  from  six  to  ten 
feet  high,  with  green- 
striped  branches,  and 
(in  late  summer)  extraordinary  inflated 
seed  pods  like  my  sketch,  which  are 
three-sided  and  three-celled,  each  cell 
containing  about  three  smooth  hard  seeds.  The  pod, 
if  crushed,  smells  like  a  pea  pod. 


Mountain  Maple. 


Bladder  Nut. 


28      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Carolina  Allspice. 


A  most  remarkable  little  ruddy  blossom  is  that 
which  we  find  on  the  sweet-scented  shrub  or  Carolina 

allspice  (Calycanthus 
Icevigatus)  from  May 
to  August.  Under 
our  nose  and  with  our 
eyes  shut  we  would 
imagine  the  flower  was 
a  luscious  ripe 
strawberry,  so 
nearly  does  it 
simulate  the 
fragrance  of  this 
fruit.  The  flow- 
ers, which  grow  singly  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves, 
must  be  crushed  to  yield  the  odor.  C.  floridus  is  a 
species  in  common  cultivation  which  we  will  see  in 
parks  and  gardens  ;  the  other  species  is  found  in 
the  mountains  of  Franklin  County,  Pa.,  and  south- 
ward along  the  Alleghanies.  The  leaves  are  without 
teeth,  oblong,  pointed,  and  bright  green.  Both  bark 
and  foliage  are  aromatic.  The  Calycanthus  will  be 
seen  in  Prospect  Park,  Brooklyn,  and  in  Central 
Park,  New  York. 

A  marked  feature  of  the  shady  roadside  in  June 
is  the  white,  flat-topped,  and  loose  flower  cluster  of 
the  dogwood.  There  are  several  species,  no  one  of 


EARLY-FLOWERING  SHRUBS. 


29 


which  should  be  confused  with  the  so-called  poison 
dogwood  (Rhus  venenata)  *  belonging  to  quite  a  dif- 
ferent family  (Cashew),  which  includes  the  sumachs. 
The  true  dogwoods  of  the  family  Cornacece  are  not 
poisonous.  The  handsom- 
est member  of  the  group 
is  the  flowering  dog- 
wood (Cornus  florida), 
which  bears  a  large 
flower  with  four 
notched,  petallike, 
showy  white  leaf- 
lets set  around 
the  tiny  greenish 
florets.  The  flow- 
ers appear  in 
May  before  the 
leaves  are  fully  out;  they  are  succeeded  in  the  fall 
by  small  bunches  of  bright-red,  oval  berries.  This 
species  differs  from  the  others  in  not  having  a  flat 
panicle  of  small  blossoms ;  it  grows  at  least  twelve 
feet  high. 

The  very  opposite  in  character  of  growth  from 
the  preceding  is  the  little  dwarf  cornel  or  bunch- 
berry  (C.  Canadensis) ;  this  tiny  plant  creeps  along 


Flowering  Dogwood. 


*  See  page  176. 


30      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


the  damp,  wooded  roadside  of  the  mountains,  and 
spreads  its  light-green  leaves  scarcely  five  inches 

above    the   ground.      The 
white    flowers    appear  in 
June,  and  the  beauti- 
ful bunches  of  bright 
scarlet    berries    are 
ripe   in    the    latter 
part  of  August. 

C.  alternifolia  is  a  shrub 
at  least  six  feet  high,  whose 
leaves  are  an  exception  to 
the  rule  respecting  their  man- 
ner of  growth ;   they  arrange 
themselves   alternately  about 

the  tips  of  the  branchlets.  The  flowers,  which  ap- 
pear in  May  or  June,  are  in  flat,  open  clusters ;  they 
are  succeeded  in  late  August  by  blue-black,  round, 
berrylike  fruit,  which  terminates  the  pretty  coral-red, 
branching  stems. 

C.  sericea  (called  kinnikinic)  is  a  shrub  three  or 
more  feet  high,  bearing  flat,  open  flower  clusters  in 
June.  The  silky,  downy  branches  are  purplish ;  the 
young  ones  reddish.  This  species  is  common  in 
swampy  places ;  the  berry  is  also  dark  blue. 

C.  stolonifera  is  low,  from  three  to  four  or  some- 
times six  feet  high.  It  is  remarkable  for  its  smooth 


Cornus  alternifolia. 


EARLY -FLOWERING  SHRUBS.  31 

ruddy  stems,  which  by   the   middle   of  winter  are 
Hood-red,  and  furnish  a  remarkable  bit  of  color  on 
the  borders  of  the  snow- 
covered  meadow.     The 
flower  clusters,  which 
are   small  and  flat, 
appear    in    June  ; 
they  are  followed 
in  August  by  whit- 
ish or  leaden-gray  fruit. 
This  species  is  com- 
mon   in    wet    places 
throughout  the  North. 

C.     asperifolia      is  Cornus  sericea. 

also  but  three  or  four 

feet  high,  and  bears  flowers  in  a  similar  small,  flat 
cluster,  succeeded  by  a  whitish  fruit.  The  branches 
of  this  species  are  brown  and  rough  downy;  the 
leaves  are  also  downy.  C.  asperifolia  is  a  distinctive- 
ly Western  species  extending  from  the  northern  shore 
of  Lake  Erie  to  Minnesota  ;  it  also  grows  in  the 
South. 

C.  paniculata  is  a  much-branched  shrub  from  four 
to  eight  feet  high,  which  bears  flowers  in  numerous 
loose,  almost  cone-shaped  clusters  in  May  or  June. 
The  fruit  is  white,  borne  on  a  pale-red  stem ;  it  ap- 
pears in  late  August.  This  species  is  very  common 


32      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


along  the  road,  beside  the  river,  and  in  meadow  bor- 
ders throughout  the  North.     The  dogwoods  all  have 
ovate-pointed  leaves,  variable  in  size,  with  long  veins 
which  run  almost  parallel  with  the  edge  which  is  de- 
void of  teeth.    In  the  case  of  C.  sericea  and  C.  asperi- 
folia  the  leaves  are  downy  beneath,  but  in  the  other 
species  they  are   smooth  through- 
out ;  C.  altemifoUa,  however,  is 
minutely     downy.         These 
shrubs      are      commonly 
found    beside    the    high- 
way, particularly  where  it 
crosses   some   thicket  -  bor- 
dered stream.     They  are  ex- 
tremely  beautiful     in    late 
spring  when  their  thin  foli- 
age furnishes  the  most  deli- 
cate, sober  green  which  we 
can  find  during  that  season ; 
and   in    late    summer    their 
handsome    berries,   many  of 
them    ruddy  stemmed,  con- 
tribute some  of  the  prettiest 

bits  of  color  which  enliven  the  shaded  depths  of  the 
woodland.  At  this  time  we  may  catch  a  glimpse  of 
the  purple  finch  and  the  red-eyed  vireo,  who  venture 
down  from  the  tree-tops  to  feed  on  the  berries  which 


Cornus  paniculata. 


EARLY  FLOWERING  SHRUBS. 


33 


they  so  greatly  relish ;  in  fact,  if  we  approach  a  large 
clump  of  the  alternate -leaved  dogwood  with  caution, 
we  may  see  a  number  of  our  feathered  friends  peck- 
ing at  the  dark-blue  berries,  but  not  at  any  hour  of 
the  day ;  it  is  early  morning  when  the  birds  are  most 
hungry,  and  break- 
fast with  them  is 
the  all  -  important 
meal  of  the  day. 

From  May  until 
July  the  flowers  of 
the  common  elder 
(Sanibucus      Ca- 
nadensis)  are  in 
bloom ;  but  this 
familiar  shrub 
needs     no    de- 
scription ;    its 
compound 
leaves  and  hand- 
some,        broad, 

white  flower  clus-    Ked-berried  Elder :  portion  of  fruit  cluster  at  A. 

ters,  sweet    with 

perfume,  are  known  to  us  all.  Two  marked  charac- 
teristics of  the  elder  are  the  rank  smell  of  the  leaves 
when  crushed  and  the  thick-jointed  branches;  the 
latter,  when  new,  are  bright  green.  The  large,  heavy 


34      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

bunches  of  purple-black  berries,  ripe  in  August,  are 
used  for  making  a  medicinal  elder-berry  wine. 

Still  another  species,  the  red-berried  elder  (8am- 
~bucus  racemosa\  is  common  beside  the  road.  The 
flowers,  clustered  in  a  pyramidal  panicle,  appear  in 
May.  The  leaves  usually  have  five  leaflets.  The  fruit 
is  ripe  in  June ;  in  color  effect  it  is  one  of  the  most 
striking  and  beautiful  bits  of  decoration  which  the 
woodland  border  presents  to  the  eye  in  early  summer. 
The  tiny  berries  are  translucent  red,  and  grouped  in 
effective  clusters  among  the  ornamental  dark-green 
leaves.  This  species  grows  from  two  to  twelve  feet 
high ;  the  common  elder  is  rarely  over  ten  feet  high. 
I  am  surprised  to  note  that  in  the  Field,  Forest,  and 
Garden  Botany  Gray  calls  the  flowers  of  the  elder 
scentless;  if  one  should  apply  the  nose  to  a  good, 
spreading  cluster  of  the  blossoms,  I  think  the  experi- 
ment would  furnish  an  all-sufficient  proof  to  the  con- 
trary. The  common  elder  is  a  familiar  object  along 
the  roads  of  central  New  Hampshire,  and  it  is  quite 
as  familiar  to  those  who  pass  over  the  roads  in 
southern  New  York.  The  red-berried  elder  is  rather 
rare  in  northern  New  Hampshire. 

Succeeding  the  elders  in  order  come  the  Vibur- 
nums, low,  straggling  shrubs  only  occasionally  found 
beside  the  road.  One  of  the  commonest  of  these, 
dockmackie  (  Viburnum  acerifolium\  is  confined  to 


EARLY-FLOWERING  SHRUBS.  35 

cool  rocky  woods ;  its  flat,  white  flower  clusters  ap- 
pear in  May  or  June.  The  leaves  are  like  those  of  the 
maple  in  shape,  and  the  blackish  fruit,  about  as  large 
as  a  huckleberry,  is  ripe  in  early  autumn  ;  it  is  not  fit 
to  eat.  Another  species, 
arrowwood  (  Viburnum 
dentatum\  general- 
ly found  in  damp 
places  throughout 
the  North 


Dockmackie. 

and  West,  has  roundish  leaves,  straight- veined  and 
coarsely  toothed,  and  bears  small  clusters  of  white 
flowers  which  appear  in  June.  This  shrub  grows 
from  five  to  fifteen  feet  high,  and  sends  out  remark- 
ably straight  shoots.  It  is  occasionally  found  in  the 
thickets  of  the  roadside. 

On  the  mountain  road  which  passes  through  the 
woods  we  will  probably  see  the  large,  almost  heart- 


36      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

shaped,  coarse,  light-green  leaves  of  the  hobblebush 
(Viburnum  lantanoides).  The  flat,  white  flower 
cluster  appears  in  May,  and  the  small,  hard,  red 
berries  are  ripe  in  September.  This  reclining  shrub 
frequently  takes  root  at  the  ends  of  its  branches,  and 
thus  trips  up  the  unwary  traveler.  It  is  extremely 
common  in  the  White  Mountains,  along  the  paths 
which  wind  through  the  woods  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Flume  House,  Franconia  Notch,  and  the  Crawford 
House,  White  Mountain  Notch,  and  it  can  often  be 
found  at  an  altitude  of  three  thousand  feet  on  the 
mountains. 

Probably  we  will  see  in  May  or  June,  on  the 
woodland  road  farther  south,  the  insignificant  green- 
ish yellow  flowers  of  the  fly  honeysuckle  (Lonicera 
ciliata).  These  grow  in  twos  at  the  junction  of  the 
leaves  with  the  main  stem  of  the  straggling  plant. 
The  leaves  are  oval  or  variable  in  shape,  and  finely 
fringed  at  the  edge.  A  near  relative  of  the  fly 
honeysuckle,  a  shrub  quite  common  on  the  wooded 
roadsides  of  the  North,  is  the  bush  honeysuckle  (Dier- 
villa  trifida).  This  has  small,  honey-yellow,  or 
greenish  yellow  flowers,  usually  three  on  a  stalk, 
which  also  grow  out  from  the  main  stem  directly  at 
its  junction  with  the  leafstem.  They  bloom  from 
June  to  August.  The  opposite-growing,  sharp- 
pointed  leaves  are  toothed. 


EARLY-FLOWERING  SHRUBS. 


37 


One  of  the  commonest  roadside  shrubs  of  the 
north  country  is  the  buttonbush  (Cephalanthus  occi- 
dentalis).  Its  decorative, 
spherical  heads  of  yel- 
lowish white  flowers 
with  long  styles  are 
quite  an  inch  in  diam- 
eter ;  the  strongly  veined, 
blunt,  egg-shaped  leaves 
are  without  teeth. 
The  flowers,  how- 
ever, are  late  in 
blooming ;  they  do  not 
appear  until  late  in 
June  or  early  in  July. 
This  shrub  grows  about 
four  feet  high,  and  is  most  fre- 
quently found  on  the  borders 
of  swamps  and  streams. 

The  buttonbush  thicket  is 
a  favorite  haunt  of  the  red- 
winged  blackbird  (Agelaius 
phceniceus) ;  here  the  bird  finds 

a  safe  retreat,  seldom  molested  by  enemies ;  the  en- 
vironment is  entirely  too  aquatic  for  all  visitors  other 
than  batrachians.  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  that 
madame,  as  she  settles  on  her  nest  at  sundown, 


Buttonbush. 


38      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

is  frequently  serenaded  by  the  crepitating,  bleating, 
lullaby  notes  of  the  familiar  tree  toad  (Hyla  versi- 


The  Ked-winged  Blackbird. 


EARLY-FLOWERING  SHRUBS.  39 

color),  or,  should  she  build  her  nest  in  late  April,  by 
the  more  musical  but  pathetic  voices  of  the  spring 
peepers  (Hyla  Piclceringii).  The  blackbird  is  a 
much  slandered  but  interesting  character.  Wilson 
says  he  has  a  reputation  of  being  a  notorious  corn 
thief,  a  plunderer  of  honest  farmers ;  but  he  proves 
by  careful  computation  that  the  farmers  are  indebted 
to  the  birds  for  destroying  an  inestimable  number  of 
injurious  insects.  He  has  calculated  that  all  the  black- 
birds in  the  United  States  during  one  season  of  the 
space  of  four  months  eat  up  sixteen  billions  two  hun- 
dred millions  of  grubs  and  larvae !  Now,  what  more 
could  a  farmer  ask  of  one  family  of  birds  ? 

If  we  approach  a  thicket  of  alders  or  button 
bushes  in  May  (the  nesting  season)  most  likely  we 
will  see  the  male  bird  flirting  about  in  and  out  among 
the  leaves  in  evident  alarm.  He  is  a  handsome  crea- 
ture, nearly  ten  inches  long,  dressed  in  a  glossy  uni- 
form of  black,  with  deep-red  epaulets  bordered  with 
buff ;  his  bill  is  black  and  very  sharp.  He  is  by  no 
means  a  singer,  but,  on  the  contrary,  gives  expression 
to  his  feelings  in  a  variety  of  confused,  rasping,  un- 
musical tones,  resembling  those  of  the  blue  jay ;  his 
commonest  note  sounds  like  quonk-a-ree.  If  we  can 
recall  the  shrill  squeak  of  a  saw  being  filed,  combined 
with  a  turkey -goblerlike  sound  resembling  jeer-a-rup, 
jeer-a-rup,  we  will  have  the  exact  counterpart  of 


40      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


another  of  the  blackbird's  notes — and  the  jay  bird's 
as  well. 

In  April  or  early  May,  on  the  road  which  winds 
through  the  dark  woods,  we  will    possibly   see    the 
spice  or  Benjamin  bush  (Lindera   benzoin)  in  full 
bloom.    The  honey -yellow  flowers  (four 
to  five  in  cluster)  are  inconspicuous 
and  tiny ;  they  are  grouped  in  yet 
larger  clusters  along  the  slender 
branchlets   which    are    as    yet 
bare  of  leaves ;  these  are  alter- 
nate-growing,   nearly    smooth, 
oval,     pointed,     and     without 
teeth.     The  red  berries  are  ob- 
ovate,   and    spicy   in   smell    and 
taste  ;    they  have   been    used    in 
place   of    allspice.      The    aromatic 
odor  of  the  crushed  leaves  resembles 
that  of  gum  benzoin.      This  shrub 
grows  from  six  to  fifteen  feet  high. 

Along  the  roads  near  the  coast,  in 
sandy  soil,  grows  a  low  shrub  from 
two  to  three  feet,  or  rarely  eight 
feet,  high,  called  bayberry  or  wax  myrtle  (Myrica 
ceriferd).  This  is  very  common  on  the  island  of 
Nantucket,  along  the  south  shore  and  in  the  vicinity 
of  Siasconset.  The  flowers  appear  in  May  along  with 


EARLY-FLOWERING  SHRUBS. 


41 


the  leaves;  the  sterile  ones,  erect  and  oblong,  less 
than  an  inch  long,  and  the  fertile  ones  in  egg-shaped 
clusters ;  the  two  kinds  are  mostly  on  separate  plants. 
The  leaves  are  extremely  aromatic  when  crushed ; 
they  are  deep  olive-green.  The  small 
bony  nuts,  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter,  at  first  greenish  and  finally 
grayish,  are  incrusted  with  wax.  It 
was  a  common  practice  some  years 
ago  for  the  country  people  to 
gather  the  berries,  boil  them,  and 
collect  the  wax  by  skimming  the 
water.*  With  this  so-called 
"  bayberry  tallow  "  candles 
and  even  soap  were  manu- 
factured. The  wax  myrtle 
is  found  from  Maine  to 
Florida;  it  is  also  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Erie. 

On  the  borders  of  ponds, 
and  perhaps  on  the  roadside 
adjoining  the  cold  bogs  in 
the  North,  we  will  find  the 

*  In  Nova  Scotia  the  wax  is  extensively  used  instead  of  tallow, 
or  is  mixed  with  tallow,  to  make  candles.  It  has  also  been  mixed 
with  beeswax  for  the  same  purpose.  Candles  made  of  it  diffuse  a 
very  agreeable  perfume,  but  give  a  less  brilliant  light  than  those 
made  entirely  of  animal  substance. — George  B.  Emerson. 


Bayberry, 
and  leaf  of  Sweet  Gale  at  A. 


42      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

sweet  gale  (Myrica  Gale),  another  similar  fragrant 
shrub,  which  grows  from  three  to  five  feet  high. 
The  blunt  extremities  of  the  leaves  are  toothed,  and 
the  flowers,  similar  to  those  of  the  foregoing  species, 
appear  in  May ;  the  sterile  ones  are  closely  clustered. 
The  little  nuts  are  round  and 
dotted,  and  are  winged  by 
a  pair  of  egg-shaped 
scales  ;  they  are 
crowded  together 
two  to  six  in  a 
cluster.  Sweet  gale 

o 

is  distributed   from 
Maine        westward 
along      the     Great 
Sweet  Fern.  Lakes  to  Minnesota, 

and  southward  along  the  mountains  to  Virginia. 

Sweet  fern  (Myrica  asplenifolia\  which  is,  of 
course,  not  a  fern  at  all  but  another  member  of  the 
Sweet  Gale  family,  is  common  on  every  pasture  and 
rocky  hill  throughout  the  North.  It  is  unnecessary 
to  describe  it  in  detail,  so  well  is  it  known.  The 
brownish  yellow  flowers  which  appear  in  April  or 
May  are  of  two  kinds  on  the  same  plant ;  the  sterile 
ones  are  about  an  inch  long,  catkinlike,  drooping  or 
erect,  and  crowded  toward  the  tips  of  the  branches ; 
the  fertile  ones  are  oblong,  one  third  of  an  inch  long, 


EARLY-FLOWERING  SHRUBS.  43 

and  are  in  rounded  clusters  with  the  seed  cases  sur- 
rounded by  eight  narrow  persistent  scales,  which 
grow  long  and  burry  as  the  fruit  develops.  The 


A  road  in  Buck's  Co.,  Pennsylvania.    Sassafras  Trees. 

fruit,  ripe  in  earlj  July,  is  a  small  nut  in  brown- 
green  clusters  of  a  burlike  appearance.  This 
aromatic  shrub  grows  from  one  to  two  feet  high. 

Sweet  fern  and  sassafras,  frequently  found  grow- 
ing together  on  the  borders  of  the  road,  are  two 
remarkably  decorative  plants  with  extremely  conven- 
tional f  oliage. 


CHAPTER  III. 

SHRUBS    BELONGING    TO    THE    ROSE    FAMILY CHERRIES, 

BRAMBLES,    ETC. 

SEVERAL  important  and  interesting  members  of 
the  beautiful  Rose  family  are  always  present  in  the 
mass  of  shrubbery  bordering  the  country  highways 
and  byways,  and  these  are  best  introduced  in  a  com- 
prehensive group  which  will  aid  us  in  tracing  the 
general  family  resemblance. 

I  call  the  Rose  family  a  beautiful  one  because  it 
not  only  includes  the  queen  of  flowers,  but  the  fruit 
trees,  spiraeas,  brambles,  whitethorns,  shad  bush, 
mountain  ash,  and  Pyrus  Japonica,  nearly  all  of 
which  bear  exceedingly  handsome  blossoms  and 
fruit. 

The  distinguishing  points  of  the  family  are  these : 
the  leaves  grow  alternately  on  the  branchlets;  the 
flowers  are  regular — that  is,  they  are  uniform  in 
structure ;  the  petals  and  sepals  are  equal  in  number, 
usually  there  are  five  of  each,  and  the  innumerable 

unconnected  stamens  are  a  prominent  feature  in  the 

44 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY.    45 

general  color  and  effect  of  the  blossom.  The  Rose 
family  is  separated  into  three  distinct  divisions  :  these 
are  the  Almond  or  Plum,  the  Rose,  and  the  Pear 
sub-families. 

Belonging  to  the  first  subfamily  (Plum)  are  a  few 
very  familiar  roadside  characters  :  the  first  of  these  is 
the  common  wild  plum  (Primus  Americana).  Near 
some  old  farmhouse  one  is  pretty  sure  to  find  this 
small  tree  in  a  neglected  condition  among  the  wild 
shrubbery.  It  bears  its  white  flowers  and  dull-green 
leaves  simultaneously  in  early  spring  ;  the  orange-red 
translucent  fruit,  about  the  size  of  a  large  cherry,  is 
ripe  in  early  September.  The  skin  is  tough  but  the 
flavor  is  pleasant.  The  tree  is  scarcely  fifteen  feet 
high,  and  is  picturesque  to  the  last  degree  in  either 
blossom  or  fruit ;  its  thorny  and  scraggy  character  is 
quite  in  keeping  with  the  air  of  desertion  attached  to 
the  weather-stained  lonely  old  house  near  by.  On 
the  road  which  winds  about  the  southern  slopes  of 
Mt.  Prospect,  in  the  township  of  Holderness,  ~N.  H., 
there  is  just  such  a  picturesque  abandoned,  farm- 
house, with  its  cluster  of  wild  plum  trees  near  by, 
which  is  as  beautiful  in  May  as  it  is  in  late  August. 
In  blossom  or  in  fruit  the  tree  is  always  a  striking 
subject  for  the  artist's  pencil. 

Beside  the  road  not  far  from  the  sea  a  spreading 
shrub,  usually  two  or  three  feet  high,  which  bears 


46       FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


fruit  resembling  the  wild  plum,  is  frequently  seen; 
this  is  the  beach  plum  (Prunus  maritima).     It  is  a 
straggling  bush  which  flourishes  in  the  sand  of  the 
seashore  and  bears  dull-red,  tough-skinned,  sour  fruit 
fit  only  for  preserving.     The  white   flowers  appear 
before  the  leaves ;  these  are  thick,  veiny,  and  sharply 
toothed   when    mature.      Another   species 
related  to  the  beach  plum  is  the 
dwarf    or    sand    cherry 
(Prunus  pumila).     But 
this  is  generally  found 
on    sandy   river  banks, 
or  in  rocky,  sandy  places 
along  the  coast.     The  flow- 
ers    are    small     and 
grow  in   clusters  of 
from    two    to    four; 
they  appear  just  after 
the    leaves,     which    are 
thick,  light-colored  beneath, 

shaped  somewhat  like  willow  leaves,  and  toothed  near 
the  apex.  The  fruit  ripens  in  August,  it  is  very 
dark  red  or  black,  about  the  size  of  a  wild  cherry, 
and  sour  or  else  insipid.  This  cherry  is  found  as 
far  West  and  South  as  Kansas  and  Yirginia.  It  is 
quite  common  on  the  banks  of  the  Pemigewasset  and 
Merrimac  Rivers,  New  Hampshire. 


Beach  Plum. 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY.    47 

The  most  familiar  shrub  of  our  Northern  roadsides 
is  the  common  choke  cherry  (Prunus  Virginiana). 
This  is  usually  not  over  five  feet  high,  although  in 
some  localities  it  attains  the  proportions  of  a  good- 
sized  tree.  Its  leaf  is  abruptly  pointed,  and  it  is 
usually  broadest  just  beyond  the  middle;  in 
other  words,  it  is  reverse  egg-shaped ;  both 
leaf  and  branch  when  bruised  are  not  very 
agreeably  odorous.  In  early  May  its 
beautiful  tassels  of  white  flowers  ap- 
pear, and  these  in  late  July  are  suc- 
ceeded by  clusters  of  red 
berries  almost  as  bright 
as  currents  ;  by  the 
end  of  August  the 
red  has  turned  to 
black,  and  the  cher- 
ries are  ripe.  If  one  does  not 
mind  having  the  mouth  puckered 
so  it  becomes  difficult  to  speak, 
I  presume  this  fruit  may  be  con-  Sand  Cherry> 
sidered  edible  ;  but  I  prefer  to 
leave  it  for  the  birds.  I  suppose  tons  of  these  ber- 
ries are  produced  every  season  on  the  intervales  and 
roadsides  beneath  the  giant  hills  of  Xew  Hamp- 
shire ;  they  cling  to  the  bushes,  too,  until  quite 
late  in  the  fall ;  it  is  scarely  strange,  therefore,  that 


48       FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

one  may  find  in  midwinter  among  the  mountains 
numbers  of  our  common  birds  who  evidently  take  the 
chances  of  freezing  where  food  is  so  plentiful.  The 
choke  cherries  tempt  the  birds  to  make  a  late  stay  in 
the  autumn ;  then,  when  choke,  black,  and  bird  or  red 
cherries  are  all  gone,  the  red  winter  fruits,  winter- 
green  and  partridge  berries,  still  remain  scattered 
over  the  woodland  floors  and  about  the  clearings,  so 
the  birds  stay. 

In  the  Adirondack  woods  also  there  is  no  end  of 
food  for  the  birds ;  here  we  will  find  the  black  alder 
(Ilex  verticillata\  smooth  winterberry  (Ilex  Icevigata), 
mountain  holly  (Nemopanthes  fascicularis\  partridge 
berry  (Mitchella  repens\  wintergreen  (Gaultheria 
procumbens),  creeping  snowberry  (Chiogenes  serpyl- 
lifolia),  and  bearberry  (Arctostaphylos  Uva-  Ursi). 
These,  and  many  other  seeds  and  berries  too  numer- 
ous to  mention,  are  plentifully  scattered  through  the 
Northern  forests  and  clearings,  and  as  late  as  the  end 
of  winter  there  is  still  food  enough  left  to  keep 
bevies  of  birds  from  starvation.  It  should  not  be 
forgotten,  too,  that  the  birds  relish  the  seeds  of  the 
coniferous  trees,  and  when  the  forest  floor  is  hidden 
with  snow  the  pine-tree  cones  furnish  small  granaries 
for  them. 

The  second  subfamily  (Hose)  consists  entirely  of 
shrubs  or  herbs.  It  is  an  interesting  division  because 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY.   49 


it  reveals  several  relatives  of  the  queen  of  flowers 
not  ordinarily  recognized  as  such.  The  first  of  these 
is  the  beautiful  meadowsweet  (Spircea  salicifolia\ 
which  grows  from  two  to  three  feet 
high,  and  adorns  every  roadside 
throughout  June  with  its  soft 
clusters  of  pinkish,  flesh-colored 
flowers.  It  is  a  light-green, 
bushy  shrub,  with  smooth  stems 
and  double  -  toothed  leaves, 
which  is  readily  distinguished 
from  hardback  (Spircea  tomen- 
tosa\  as  the  latter  has  a  cot- 
tony stem  and  <fe^-pink  flow- 
ers. Hardback  also  has  a 
pointed  flower  cluster,  which 
gave  rise  to  its  other  common 
name,  steeple  bush.  The  shrub 
called  queen  of  the  prairie  (Spi- 
raea lobata)  is  a  species  which  is 
common  on  the  meadows  and  prai- 
ries of  the  West ;  it  is  also  culti- 
vated. The  handsome  plumes 
of  flowers  are  deep  flesh-pink, 
and  the  leaves  are  compound — 
that  is,  the  leaflets  are  arranged 
on  either  side  of  a  single  stem,  like  those  of  the 

5 


Meadowsweet. 


50      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

sumach.  This  spiraea  grows  from  two  to  five,  or 
sometimes  eight,  feet  high;  the  bruised  foliage  has 
the  odor  of  sweet  birch. 

Two  members  of  the  Rose  subfamily,  which  are 
very  common  indeed  in  the  grassy  levels  between  the 
shrubbery,  are  the  wild  cinquefoil  (Potentilla  Cana- 
densis\  a  little  yellow  buttercup-shaped  flower,  with 


Graylock  from  Chesterfield,  Mass. 

leaves  like  those  of  the  strawberry  (except  that  there 
are  five  instead  of  three  leaflets),  and  the  strawberry 
itself  (Fragaria  Virginiana) ;  both  are  very  plentiful 
on  the  green -bordered  roads  about  Chesterfield,  Mass. 
Next  we  come  to  the  bramble  tribe  of  the  Rose 
subfamily,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  members  of 
which  is  the  purple  -  flowering  raspberry  (Rubus 
odoraius).  It  has  a  handsome  three-lobed  leaf,  not 
unlike  that  of  the  maple,  and  a  crimson-pink  bios- 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE   FAMILY.    51 


som  very  similar  to  a  wild  rose ;  unfortunately,  the 
flower  at  maturity  turns  a  homely,  pale  magenta,  but 
never  purple.  The  fruit  of  this  shrubby  plant  is  like 
a  flat  raspberry,  with  little  or  no  flavor ; 
the  long  stems  are  hairy-bristly,  not 
thorny. 

The  wild  red  raspberry  (Ru- 
~bus  strigosus]  is  thickly  distrib- 
uted   over    the    country   from 
Labrador    southward    to   New 
Jersey  and  the  mountains   of 
North  Carolina,  and  westward 
to  Minnesota  and  Missouri.     It 
occupies    the    roadsides    in 
some  localities  in  New  York 
and    New     England      for 
miles     together  ;    and    in 
many   of   the   old  pasture 
lands  of  the  White  Moun- 
tain region  it  grows  so  lux- 
uriantly, together   with   the 

high-bush  blackberry,  that  it  forms  almost  impassable 
thickets.  The  thorny  canes,  however,  are  not  nearly 
so  murderous  as  those  of  the  blackberry,  and  if  one  is 
not  afraid  of  a  few  scratches,  a  day's  "  raspberrying  " 
in  July,  when  the  season  is  good,  will  result  in  a 
heaping  eight-quart  pail  of  fruit  which,  in  my  esti- 


Wild  Eed  Easpberry. 


52      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

mation,  equals  in  flavor  the  cultivated  and  much- 
prized  Cuthbert,*  of  which  our  wild  berry  is  the 
parent.  I  find  that  the  birds,  especially  the  sparrows, 
indigo  buntings,  yellowbirds,  and  chickadees,  are 
especially  fond  of  raspberries,  and  at  no  time  can  I 
enter  a  broad  patch  without  stirring  up  a  score  or  so 
of  little  fellows,  who  do  not  leave  the  spot  until  they 
have  feasted  to  complete  satiation. 

Among  the  blossoms  which  afford  the  best-flavored 
honey  for  the  bee,  those  of  the  raspberry  rank  higher 
than  white  clover.  In  the  valley  of  the  Hudson 
River,  where  raspberries  are  extensively  cultivated, 
in  early  morning,  during  the  period  of  blossoming, 
the  whitened  patches  are  fairly  resonant  with  the 
hum  of  a  million  busy  bees  who  leave  everything  else, 
even  the  earliest  and  the  sweetest  of  the  garden 
flowers,  for  the  coveted  sweets  of  the  very  ordinary- 
looking  raspberry  blossom.  Not  the  sweetest  flowers 
are  always  sought  by  the  bee,  far  from  it ;  for,  al- 
though white  clover  and  orange  blossoms  afford  much 
honey,  the  trailing  arbutus,  with  its  delicate  muscatel 
odor,  is  said  by  apiarists  to  be  quite  honeyless,f  while 

*  I  believe  the  Cuthbert  is  a  cross  between  the  foreign  berry, 
called  Antwerp,  and  our  own  Rubus  strigosus.  The  Turner  is  also 
an  improved  form  of  R,  strigosus. 

f  Not  in  my  opinion,  however,  as  I  am  quite  sure  of  having 
tasted  the  sweetness  in  the  blossoms.  I  certainly  have  concurrent 
testimony  from  Mr.  Clarence  M.  Weed,  who  records  the  fact  that 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE   FAMILY.    53 

such  strange  flowers  as  catnip,  mustard,  hoarhound, 
melilot,  and  delphinium  are  good  honey  bearers.  Of 
course,  apple  blossoms,  and,  in  fact,  all  fruit-tree 
blossoms,  are  especially  attractive  to  the  bees,  the 
crab  apple  in  particular ;  but  the  flowers  of  the  lin- 
den, red  maple,  sugar  maple,  elm,  locust,  yellowwood, 
and  tulip  trees  are  equally  sought  by  the  bees. 

The  black  raspberry,  sometimes  called   thimble- 
berry  (Rubus  occidentalis),  is  also  frequently  found 
beside  the  road.     The  leaf- 
lets are  mostly  in 
threes,  whereas 
in  the  red 


•j 

The  High  Blackberry. 


raspberry  they  generally  occur  in  Jvoe8\  there  is, 
besides,  a  characteristic  bloom  like  that  on  a  plum, 
which  covers  the  canes  and  the  smallest  stems.  The 

the  ants,  who  are  always  wandering  about  in  search  of  food,  may 
often  be  seen  trying  to  get  at  the  nectar  in  the  bottom  of  the 
arbutus  blossoms.  See  Popular  Science  Monthly,  May,  18'J4. 


54:   FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

black  raspberry  is  most  common  in  its  wild  state 
northward. 

The  high  blackberry  (Ru'bus  villosus)  is  another 
distinctive  roadside  character  in  the  North.  It  grows 
from  two  to  seven  feet  high,  and  is  armed  with 
recurved  thorns  stout  enough  to  tear  anything  but  a 
leathern  suit  into  shreds.  The  blossoms  are  narrow- 
petaled,  but  large  and  white  as  well  as  beautiful ; 
indeed,  a  full-flowered  spray  of  blackberry  is  as  pic- 
turesque a  bit  of  roadside  embroidery  as  one  may 
well  find.  The  berries  themselves  in  their  red  and 
black  aspects  are  inimitably  decorative,  and  the 
strongly  modeled,  deep-veined,  sharp-toothed  leaves 
are  as  conventional  in  arrangement  as  anything  of 
the  leaf  kind  we  can  find  in  Nature. 

The  blackberry  is  well  named,  for  it  is  the  most 
obviously  black  thing  in  all  the  world  of  flowers  and 
fruit.  But  is  it  truly  black  ?  So  far  as  effect  is  con- 
cerned I  must  answer  yes ;  but  considering  it  in  the 
light  of  principle  I  must  answer  no ;  for  black  hardly 
has  an  existence  in  Nature!  To  prove  this,  crush 
the  skin  of  a  blackberry  or  the  petal  of  a  black  pansy, 
and  examine  the  juice  under  a  magnifying  glass; 
there  is  no  black  there,  but  color;  and  as  we  all 
know  black  is  the  absence  of  color  the  proof  is  con- 
clusive. 

The  low  blackberry,  or  dewberry  (Rubus  Cana- 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY.    55 

densis\  may  be  easily  distinguished  from  the  high 
blackberry  by  the  following  characteristics :  It  is 
vinelike,  long-trailing,  and  only  slightly  prickly;  it 
has  from  three  to  seven  double-toothed  leaflets, 
which  are  small  and  nearly,  if  not  quite,  smooth  in 
texture,  and  it  is  commonest  in  rocky  or  sandy  soil. 
The  berry  has  also  fewer  grains,  is  more  nearly 
round  than  that  of  the  other  species,  and  ripens 
earlier. 


CHAPTEK  IV. 

SHRUBS    BELONGING    TO    THE   ROSE    FAMILY THE    WILD 

ROSE,    ETC. 

CLOSELY  related  to  the  brambles  are  the  dainty 
wild  roses,"*  seven  species  of  which  are  locally  dis- 
tributed along  our  roadsides  from  Maine  to  Minne- 
sota. The  most  famous  wild  rose  of  the  country  is 
the  prairie  rose  (Rosa  setigera) ;  it  grows  only  in  the 
West  and  South.  This  is  a  tall,  climbing  species 
armed  with  nearly  straight,  large  thorns ;  the  leaflets 

*  As  far  as  I  could  do  so,  I  have  avoided  straight  botanical 
descriptions,  yet  have  followed  very  closely  Gray's  records  of  the 
salient  points  of  each  species,  believing  that  these  are  the  most 
useful  means  for  the  identification  of  a  rose.  The  few  botanical 
technicalities  which  occur  I  will  explain  thus:  We  should  prop- 
erly look  at  a  leaf  point  up  and  stem  down,  just  as  we  should 
naturally  look  at  an  egg  with  the  large  end  down ;  an  obovate  leaf 
is  therefore  wide  end  up,  and  of  course  stem  end  down.  The 
sepal  of  a  flower  is  usually  green  and  leaflike ;  in  the  case  of  the 
rose  it  enfolds  the  bud  and  finally  withers  away  on  the  upper  end 
of  the  seed  receptacle.  The  stipule  of  the  leaf  is  that  flaring 
edge  or  leaflike  formation  of  the  leafstem  next  adjoining  the 
branch.  It  is  necessary  to  understand  these  simple  terms  as  they 
bear  directly  upon  the  characteristic  differences  of  species. 

56 


SANKATY   HEAD   LIGHT, 

NANTUCKET, 

MASS. 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY.    57 

are  egg-shaped,  sharply  toothed,  and  are  arranged 
from  three  to  five  on  a  stem.  The  flowers,  which 
bloom  in  July,  are  borne  in  flat-topped  clusters,  and 
are  at  first  pink  but  finally  pinkish  white.  This  rose 
is  the  parent  of  the  Baltimore  Belle ; 
its  strong  shoots,  Dr.  Gray  says, 
grow  from  ten  to  twenty  feet 
in  one  season. 

The      swamp 
rose  (Rosa  Caro- 
lina) is   frequently 
found  beside  the  road 
leading  through  boggy  districts ; 
it  always  grows  on  more  or  less 
damp   ground,   and   spreads    its 
stems   from   two    to   eight   feet 
outward    from    the    root.       In 
Nantucket    it    grows    in    dense 
thickets     beside     the     swampy 
edges  of    the    ponds,   near   the      PrairieRose> 
south   shore,  together  with   the 
cat-tail  flag  (Typha  latifolia).     I  have  also  sketched 
it  as  it  grew  beside  the  road  leading  from  the  village 
of  Siasconset  to  Sankaty  Head  light.     This  species 
has  from  five  to  nine  (usually  seven)  smooth,  dull- 
green,  finely  toothed  leaflets.     The   stems   are   pro- 
vided with   strong  hooked   thorns;   the   sepals  (the 


58      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


pointed  green  leaflets  which  enfold  the  pink  buds) 
are  generally  deciduous.*     The  delicate  pink  flowers 
are    borne   in   small   clusters  ;   they  greatly  vary  in 
strength    of   tint.      Rosa 
Carolina  is  distribu- 
ted  from   Maine  to 
Florida,  and 
westward  to 
Minnesota 
and  Miss- 
issippi. 


Kosa  Carolina. 

The  dwarf  wild  rose  (Rosa  lucida\  sometimes 
called  shining  rose,  grows  from  one  to  five  feet  high, 
has  stout  stems  armed  with  numerous  more  or  less 

*  Gray  describes  the  sepals  of  this  rose  as  spreading  and  de- 
ciduous in  his  Manual,  but  in  his  Field,  Forest,  and  Garden 
Botany,  edited  by  Prof.  L.  H.  Bailey,  no  notice  is  taken  of  the 
fact.  I  have  also  been  reminded  by  Mrs.  M.  L.  Owen,  one  of  the 
leading  botanists  of  New  England,  of  the  deciduous  character  of 
the  sepals.  Very  probably,  however,  this  is  a  general  rule,  not 
without  an  occasional  exception,  as  in  two  or  three  cases  I  have 
found  the  withered  leaflets  still  attached  to  the  seed  receptacle, 
but  while  the  latter  was  yet  ruddy-colored. 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY.    59 


hooked  thorns,  and  about  seven  small,  thick,  usually 
shining  leaflets,  dark  green  above  and  coarsely 
toothed.  The  flowers  are  pale  pink  and  grow  singly 
as  well  as  in  clusters ;  the  sepals  are  bristly,  more  or 
less  long  and  slender,  and  are  frequently  notched. 
The  stipules  (flaring  sides  of  the  leaf- 
stem  where  it  joins  the  main  stem) 
of  this  species  are  dilated  or  broad  ; 
those  of  Rosa  Caroli- 
na are  long  and  nar- 
row. Rosa  lucida  is 
distributed  from 
Newfoundland  south- 
westward  to  eastern 
Pennsylvania  ;  it 
blooms  [earlier  than 
Rosa  Carolina]  in 
June  or  July. 

Rosa  humilis  is  a 
species  somewhat  sim- 
ilar to  the  foregoing, 
but  it  extends  as  far 
West  and  Southwest  Rosa  lucida. 

as  Minnesota  and  Lou- 
isiana.    It  is  common,  however,  in  drier  soil  or  on 
rocky  slopes.     It  grows  from  one  to  three  feet  high, 
and  has  slender,  less  leafy  stems  with  nearly  straight 


60      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


thorns.  The  stipules  are  usually  narrow,  and,  Gray 
says,  in  a  few  instances  somewhat  dilated.  The  leaf- 
lets are  also  larger,  thinner,  and  dull  green.  The 

flowers  are  very  often 
solitary  and  the  sepals 
are  nearly  always  lobed. 
The  early  wild  rose 
(Rosa  blandd)  is 
characterized  by  its 
thornless  stems  ;  only 
occasionally  it  is  found 
with  a  few  and  very 
rarely  with  numerous 
straight,  weak  thorns. 
It  grows  on  stony  banks 
and  beside  rocks,  and  its 
stem  is  from  one  to 
three  feet  high.  Its  leaf 
is  composed  of  from  five 

to  seven  somewhat  wedge-shaped  and  blunt  leaflets, 
pale  in  color  and  a  trifle  hoary  beneath ;  the  stipules 
are  large  and  plain-edged,  or  rarely  they  are  slightly 
toothed.  The  light-pink  flowers  are  large  and  bloom 
in  late  spring  or  early  summer ;  they  are  either  soli- 
tary or  grow  two  or  three  in  a  cluster ;  the  fruit  is 
nearly  globular.  Rosa  ~blanda  is  distributed  locally 
through  New  England,  and  is  common  in  central 


Rosa  humilis. 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY.    Ql 

New  York,  Orchard  Lake  and  Munroe,  Mich.,  La 
Salle  County,  111.,  and  the  vicinity  of  the  Great 
Lakes. 

Besides  these  five  indigenous  species  which  I  have 
described,  there  are  two  other  Irier  roses  which  have 


On  the  South  Shore  of  Orchard  Lake,  Oakland  Co.,  Michigan. 

come  to  us  from  Europe,  both  of  which  are  to  be 
found  on  many  roadsides,  especially  near  old  farm- 
houses. The  first  of  these  is  the  Eglantine  or  sweet- 
brier  (Rosa  rv~biginosa\  which  came  over  from  Eng- 
land with  the  early  settlers.  This  rose  may  at  once 
be  distinguished  from  all  others  by  the  aromatic 
fragrance  of  its  crushed  leaves.  The  small,  roundish, 


62      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


double-toothed  leaflets,  five  to  seven  on  a  stem,  are 
lined  beneath  with  russet-colored  glands,  which  are  ac- 
countable for  the  sweet  scent.  The 
small,  pink  flowers  are  most- 
ly solitary,  and 
the  long,  thorny 
branches  are  dis- 
posed to  climb. 
The  fruit  is  pear- 
shaped;  that  of 
Rosa  Wanda  is 
nearly  globular. 
The  second  brier 
rose  is  the  dog  rose  (JRosa 
canina\  which  is  extremely 
common  along  the  roadsides  of  New 
England  ;  it  is  distributed  quite 
generously  through  some  parts  of 
New  Jersey,  eastern  Pennsylvania, 
and  southern  New  York,  and  is 
even  found  as  far  Southwest  as 
Tennessee.  This  species  is  very 
similar  to  the  foregoing,  but  it 
lacks  the  aromatic  fragrance. 
Sometimes  the  branches  are  un- 
armed, but  frequently  they  are 
quite  thorny  ;  the  flowers  grow  forms  of  Kosa  bianda. 


Kosa  bianda. 


Seed  vessels  in  two 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY.   63 


from  two  to  four  in  a  cluster  or  they  are  solitary. 
The  sepals  are  bordered  with  tiny  leaflets,  and  they 
are  deciduous ;  the  fruit  is  oblong  ovate  or 
nearly  globular.  This  rose  has  also 
come  to  us  from  Europe. 

Passing,   now,   the   multi- 
tudinous roses  under  culti- 
vation  and  the  interest 
which     is     attached    to 
their  pedigree,  we  come 
to  three  beautiful  spe- 
cies,    commonly    seen 
in   parks   and   private 
grounds,  which  I  can  not 
leave  without  at  least 
a  word  of  commenda- 
tion.     These   are  the 
Burnet  or  Scotch  rose 
(Rosa     spinosissima\ 
the  Japanese  rose  (Ro- 
sa   rugosa),    and    the 
trailing     rose     (Rosa 

Wichuraiana).  The  Scotch  rose  grows  about  two 
feet  high  and  is  exceedingly  thorny  ;  it  bears  most 
charming,  delicate  yellow  (sometimes  white  or  pink), 
early  blooming  flowers,  which  are  a  delight  to  the 
eye  in  early  summer.  The  leaves  are  composed  of 


Sweetbrier. 


64:      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


from  seven  to  nine  small,  roundish  leaflets.  The 
Japanese  rose  is  remarkable  for  its  superb,  dark- 
green,  bushy  foliage ;  the  single  flowers  are  white  or 
pink  and  the  large  nearly  globular  fruit  orange-red. 
This  rose  blooms  in  early  sum- 
mer, but  its  great  charm, 
I  think,  is  its  luxuri- 
ant, ornamental  foli- 
age. The  trailing 
rose*  (JRosa  Wi- 
churaiana)  is  ex- 
tensively planted 
among  the  stony 
borders  and  rocky 
ledges  of  parks ;  it  creeps 
rapidly  over  the  ground  and  sends 
out  in  one  season  stems  fully  ten 
feet  long ;  it  bears  single  white  flow- 
ers ;  the  tiny  thick  leaflets  are  shining 
dark  green.  This  rose,  which  is  also  Japanese,  is 
one  of  the  most  charming  of  the  single  kind  in  cul- 
tivation; it  is  remarkably  hardy.  It  is  quite  com- 
mon on  the  borders  of  the  roads  in  the  Arnold  ar- 
boretum. Yery  closely  related  to  the  roses  are  the 
whitethorns  or  hawthorns.  Only  three  or  four  spe- 


Dog  Kose. 


*  Catalogued  and  sold  under  the  name  of  Memorial  Rose  by 
Peter  Henderson  &  Co.,  seedsmen,  New  York. 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE    FAMILY.   65 

cies  are  common  in  the  North,  the  rest  are  South- 
ern. 

The  scarlet-fruited  thorn  (OratoBgut  coccinea)  ap- 
pears frequently  on  the  borders  of  the  highway  near 
the  old  farmhouse,  and  we  may  recognize  it  at  once 
by  its  ornamentally  notched  and  toothed  leaf,  and  its 
dull-scarlet,  tiny,  apple -shaped  fruit.  The  branches 
are  beset  with  thorns  about  an  inch  long.  Another 
species  (Cratcegus  Crus-galli)  bears  thorns  from  two 
to  four  inches  long,  and  also  small  apple-shaped  fruit. 
The  leaves  are  wedge-shaped,  thick,  and  dark  green. 
This  species  is  frequently  found  in  the  thickets  by 
the  roadsides  throughout  the  North.  But  one  of  the 
handsomest  of  the  thorns  is  called  Cratcegus  mollis 
(C.  S.  Sargent).  This  has  large  leaves,  flowers,  and 
fruit;  it  is  commonly  planted  in  parks.  It  blooms 
fully  two  weeks  earlier  than  C.  coccinea,  and  may 
readily  be  distinguished  from  that  species  by  its 
densely  woolly  or  hairy  shoots.  Its  range  is  from 
eastern  Massachusetts  to  Missouri  and  Texas.  Chief 
among  the  thorns  which  are  planted  in  our  parks  is 
the  English  hawthorn  (Cratcegus  oxyacantha) ;  but 
this  is  too  well  known  to  need  description  here. 
There  are  kinds  with  double  pink  or  white  flowers. 
Two  other  species  are  also  found  in  the  North  and 
West,  named  Cratcegus  tomentosa  and  Cratcegus punc- 
tata  ;  the  former  is  characterized  by  small  ill- seen  ted 


66       FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

flowers,  large  leaves  which  are  densely  woolly  beneath, 
and  obovate  fruit,  and  the  latter  by  small  leaves  and 
more  or  less  white-dotted  red  or  yellow  fruit  quite  an 
inch  in  diameter.  Cratcegus  tomentosa  is  distributed 
westward  from  eastern  New  York,  but  the  other 
species  is  common  throughout  the  North  and  extends 
as  far  South  as  Georgia. 

The  last  member  of  the  Kose  subfamily  is  the 
shad  bush,  or  Juneberry  (Amelanchier  Canadensis)  ; 
sometimes  it  is  called  service  berry.  This  shrub  we 
are  quite  sure  to  see  beside  the  road,  particularly  in 
dry  wooded  places.  It  has  charmingly  plain,  shiny, 
evenly  toothed  leaves  with  a  smooth  texture ;  the 
flowers,  which  appear  just  before  the  leaves,  hang  in 
large,  drooping,  white  clusters ;  the  petals  are  long 
and  narrow.  The  fruit,  ripe  in  June,  resembles  the 
huckleberry,,  and  in  different  stages  of  development 
is  buff,  flesh-color,  pink,  red,  purple,  and  black -pur- 
ple ;  indeed,  it  is  even  more  beautiful  than  the  grace- 
ful flowers,  and  is  edible  besides ;  up  in  the  back 
country  it  is  called  "  sugar  plums."  The  shad  bush 
is  distributed  throughout  the  North  and  South  ;  west- 
ward its  limit  is  on  a  line  reaching  from  Minnesota  to 
Louisiana.  Throughout  the  southern  region  of  the 
White  Mountains,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Mo- 
nadnoc  it  is  common  on  the  borders  of  meadow  and 
road. 


SHRUBS  BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE   FAMILY.    07 

The  third  subfamily  (Pear)  includes  the  pear, 
apple,  and  quince  trees,  and  the  chokeberry  and 
mountain  ash. 

The  chokeberry  (Pyrus  arbutifolia),  is  indeed  as 
unacceptable  to  the  palate  as  the  name  seems  to  im- 
ply ;  but  I  have  noticed  that  the  birds  do  not  con- 
sider the  puckery  taste 
of  the  berry  so  objec- 
tionable, as  they  of- 
ten appear  to  enjoy 
the  fruit  in  the  late 
fall  when  there   are 
many  other  berries 
still  clinging  to  the 
bushes. 

Damp    ground 
is   the  chosen   place 
of  the  chokeberry,  and   it 
is   generally  found  in   the 
thickets  beside  the  bridge, 

not     far     from    where      the     The  Chokeberry. 

Phoebe  bird  loves  to  build 

her  nest.  It  grows  from  one  to  three  feet  high,  has 
somewhat  narrow,  toothed,  sharply  pointed  leaves, 
and  white  or  pinkish  flowers,  which  grow  in  flattish 
clusters  at  the  ends  of  the  branches.  The  fruit  is 
dull  purple,  small,  pear-shaped,  or  nearly  round,  and 


63      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

very  astringent ;  it  clings  to  the  branch  after  the 
leaves  have  fallen. 

The  chokeberry  is  common  from  New  England 
to  Florida  ;  westward  its  limitation  is  Minnesota,  Illi- 
nois, Missouri,  and  Louisiana.  Pyrus  nigra  (Sargent) 
is  a  species  with  broader,  reverse,  egg-shaped  leaves, 
earlier  flowers,  and  larger  black  fruit,  which  soon  falls. 

Nearly  related  to  the  chokeberry  is  the  beautiful 
mountain  ash  (Pyrus  Americana),  which,  however, 
is  more  of  a  tree  than  a  shrub.  Its  pretty  sumach- 
like  compound  leaves,  and  its  bright  scarlet  berries, 
about  as  large  as  peas,  are  very  often  seen  beside 
the  highways  which  lead  through  the  Northern 
States,  and  it  may  easily  be  identified  by  its  aromatic 
wild-cherry  odor  when  bruised.  Another  species 
with  broader  and  somewhat  blunt  leaves,  called  Py- 
rus sambucifolia,  is  common  among  the  mountains  of 
northern  New  Hampshire  and  Yermont ;  it  is  not 
likely  to  be  seen  beside  the  road,  however,  unless 
planted  there. 

The  last  member  of  the  Rose  Family  to  which  I 
will  draw  attention  is  the  Japan  quince  (Pyrus  Ja- 
ponica,  or  Cydonia  Japonica).  This  is  a  familiar 
roadside  character  of  parks  and  gardens.  In  the  Ar- 
nold arboretum,  near  Boston,  there  are  several  va- 
rieties of  the  beautiful  shrub,  which,  it  seems  to  me, 
should  be  more  commonly  cultivated.  These  are  P. 


SHRUBS   BELONGING  TO  THE  ROSE  FAMILY.    (59 

Japonica  atrosanguinea,  deep-scarlet  blossoms ;  P. 
Japonica  rosea,  scarlet-pink  blossoms ;  P.  Japonica 
Moorlosi,  variegated  rose-red  and  nearly  white  blos- 
soms ;  and  P.  Japonica  Mallardi,  scarlet  blossoms. 

Nevertheless,  the  Pyrus  Japonica  is  an  old  fa- 
vorite which  will  hardly  lose  its  popularity,  for  in 
April  (in  the  North  in  the  middle  of  May)  this  shrub 
puts  forth  its  leaves  and  beautiful  scarlet  apple-blos- 
som-shaped flowers  long  before  anything  else  shows  a 
sign  of  responding  to  the  spring  weather.  It  will  be 
found  among  the  shrubbery  of  Prospect  Park,  Brook- 
lyn, and  Central  Park,  New  York. 

The  thoroughly  Japanesque  character  of  Pyrus 
Japonica  is  revealed  in  its  spring  colors  when  the 
leaves  are  just  unfolding.  In  almost  any  position  on 
the  garden  grounds  it  is  suggestive  of  the  artistic 
kakemono.  A  more  beautiful  picture  than  that  which 
it  forms  against  the  soft-gray  background  of  an  old 
weatherbeaten  board  fence  is  unimaginable.  The  rud- 
dy tinge  of  the  budding  foliage,  the  brilliant  scarlet 
of  the  blossoms  in  broad  sunshine,  the  rugged  tracery 
of  the  slender  brown  twigs  with  perhaps  the  azure 
blue  of  some  dainty  bluebird  visitor  (the  bluebird  is 
very  frequently  attracted  by  the  red  flowers) — all 
these  uncommon  colors  and  picturesque  lines  are  pe- 
culiarly like  the  vigorous  decorations  which  we  may 
see  on  some  Japanese  screen.  Yet  I  have  no  doubt 


70      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

but  what  the  Pyrus  Japonica  is  scarcely  thought  to 
be  more  than  a  familiar  scarlet-flowered  shrub  of  or- 
dinary interest ;  and  it  seems  as  though  it  was  most 
frequently  planted  for  a  hedge  with  a  careless  indif- 
ference about  environment. 


CHAPTER  Y. 


THE  WOODLAND    ROAD SHRUBS  AND    FLOWERS    BELONG- 
ING   TO    THE    HEATH    FAMILY. 

SOME  of  the  most  beautiful  shrubs  and  herbs 
which  grow  beside  the  woodland  road  are  members 
of  the  Heath  family  (Ericaceae),  and  many  of  them — 
the  huckleberry,  trailing 
arbutus,  mountain  laurel, 
and  Indian  pipe,  for  in- 
stance —  are  common 
throughout  the  hilly  re- 
gions of  Pennsylvania, 
New  Jersey,  New  York, 
and  New  England. 

As  summer  advances 
we  will  find  on  the  way- 
sides of  the  climbing  hills 
the  dwarf  blueberry  (  Vaccinium  Pennsylvanicum), 
with  its  beautiful  cadet-blue  berries,  sweet  as  honey, 
clustered  at  the  tips  of  bushes  scarcely  ten  inches 

high.     The  miniature   leaves  are  variously  colored 

71 


Dwarf  Blueberry. 


72      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


with  red  and  green,  finely  toothed  and  laurel-shaped. 
It  is  the  lowest  and  earliest  of  the  blueberries.  Its 
immature  clusters  of  fruit  are  of  the  most  beautiful 
aesthetic  hues:  green,  magenta,  pink,  purple,  and 
violet.  The  dwarf  blue-berry  is  an  upland  species 
which  is  found  on  some  of  the  high- 
est summits  of  the  White 
Mountains.  Another  species, 
V.  Canadense,  has  downy  leaves 
without  teeth,  which  are 
broader  than  those  of  V. 
Pennsylvanicum  ;  it  grows  from 
one  to  two  feet  high.  Late  in 
August,  in  the  thickets  that  bor- 
der the  marsh,  the  fruit  of  the 
swamp  or  high  blueberry  ( V.  corym- 
bosum)  appears.  This  lowland  species 
attains  a  height  of  from  five  to  ten 
feet,  and  bears  a  blue-purple  or  blackish,  slightly 
acid  berry.  In  May  the  flowering  branchlets  are 
often  leafless. 

The  common  huckleberry  (Gaylussacia  resinosa) 
grows  from  one  to  three  feet  high,  and  bears  a  shin- 
ing black  berry  without  bloom,  which  ripens  in  Au- 
gust. Its  leaf  (without  teeth)  and  reddish  flower  in 
May  or  early  June  are  sticky  with  bright,  tiny,  resi- 
nous yellowish  globules.  We  will  find  this  species 


Huckleberry. 


THE  WOODLAND  ROAD. 


73 


growing  on  the  rocky  hillside,  or  on  the  border  of 
the  wooded  swamp.  It  does  not  occur  in  the  White 
Mountains,  where  the  dwarf  blueberry  is  very  com- 
mon, but  it  is  plentiful  in  various  parts  of  New  Jer- 
sey, on  the  island  of  Nantucket,  Lake  George. 
N.  Y.,  and  in  Putnam  County, 
N.  Y. ;  it  is  widely  distributed 
from  Maine  to  northern  Georgia. 

The  squaw  huckleberry  (  V. 
stamineum),   sometimes   called 
deerberry,   is   a*  rugged    shrub 
two    to    three    feet    high,   very 
much    branched,    bearing    large, 
greenish  or  yellowish,  globular  or 
pear  -  shaped,     hanging     berries, 
which  are  insipid  and  not  edible ; 
they  ripen  in  September. 

The  flowers  of  all  these  shrubs 
are  vase-shaped  and  five-cleft  at 
the  edge,  usually  of  a  whitish,  pinkish,  or  magentaish 
hue,  and  they  appear  in  spring  or  early  summer. 
The  common  cranberry  of  our  markets  (  Vaccinium 
macrocarpori)  is  found  in  the  peat  bogs  of  the  North- 
ern States,  and  flowers  in  June. 

The  beautiful  miniature,  creeping  snowberry 
(Chiogenes  serpyllifolia)  belongs  in  the  peat  bogs  and 
mossy  woods  of  the  North,  but  it  very  frequently 


Squaw  Huckleberry. 


74:      FAMILIAR  FEATURES   OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


finds  its  way  to  the  borders  of  the  mountain  road; 
we  can  always  tell  it  by  the  flavor  of  wintergreen  in 
both  leaf  and  berry.  The  leaves 
are  tiny  and  ovate-pointed,  the 
minute  flowers  grow  solitary  at 
the  junction  of  the  leaf  with  the 
main  stem,  and  bloom  in  May, 
and  the  clear,  snow-white  berries 
appear  in  late  summer.  It  is  cer- 
tainly the  daintiest  member  of 
the  Heath  family.  I  very  fre- 
quently find  it  in  the  damp  woods 
of  the  White  Mountains. 

On  the  rocky  hillsides  of  New 
Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  and  dis- 
tributed in  the  far  North  and 
the  West  as  far  as  Missouri,  is  the 
low-growing  little  plant  called  bearberry  (Arcto- 
staphylos  Uva-  Ursi).  Its  small  leaves  are  thick  and 
evergreen,  and  it  trails  over  the  barren,  stony  ground, 
much  as  the  arbutus  does,  but  in  thick  mats.  The 
leaves  are  toothless  and  smooth.  The  flowers  appear 
in  May  ;  they  are  urn-shaped,  flesh-color  pink-tipped, 
and  are  succeeded  by  astringent  red  berries,  which 
are  mealy  and  flavorless ;  as  they  remain  on  the  plants 
through  the  winter,  they  furnish  acceptable  food  for 
the  winter  birds.  The  species  A.  alpina^  with  de- 


Crecping  Snowberry. 


MOUNT  POCOMOONSHINE, 

ADIRONDACKS, 

ESSEX   CO.,    N.  Y. 

THE   BEARBERRY. 


THE   WOODLAND  ROAD.  75 

ciduous,  toothed,  strongly  veined  leaves  and  black 
fruit,  is  common  on  the  high  summits  of  the  White 
Mountains. 

The  bearberry  may  also  be  found  on  many  of  the 
stony  slopes  of  the  Adirondack  Mountains.  I  have 
sketched  that  most  interesting  eastern  rocky  outpost 
of  these  northern  hills  called  Mount 
Pocomoonshine,  on  whose  precip- 
itous cliffs  the  bearberry  finds 
here  and  there  a  scant  foothold. 
The  grand  old  mountain  faces 
the  road  about  eight  miles  south 
of  Keeseville. 

The    common    wintergreen     or 
checkerberry   (Gaultheria   procum- 
bens),  with   its   pure   red   berry  and 
dark,  varnished,  evergreen  leaf,,  is  too 
well  known  to  need  description  here. 
It    is  very   frequently   found   on   the 
wooded  roadsides. 

The    beautiful     staggerbush    (An- 
dromeda  Mariana)*  has  ample  clus- 

Bearberry  in 

ters  of  nodding  flowerets,  urn-shaped,          flower. 

white,    and   waxy,   which    appear    in 

spring  or  early  summer  on  nearly  leafless  branchlets. 

*  It  is  said  to  be  poisonous  to  cattle. 


76     FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


This  is  a  familiar  shrub  of  the  roadside  in  low 
grounds,  which  is  becoming  common  in  cultivation ; 
i^  grows  from  two  to  four  feet  high.  Yery  closely 
related  to  the  Andromeda  is  the  sorrel  tree  or  sour- 
wood  (Oxydendrum  arboreum),  whose  leaves  arc 
about  the  size  and  shape  of  those  of  the  peach.  The 
dainty  little  white,  urn-shaped  flow- 
ers appear  in  June  or  July ;  they  are 
borne  in  long  one-sided  clusters, 
and  strongly  resemble  those  of  the 
Andromeda.  I  have  never  seen 
the  sorrel  tree  growing  wild  in 
New  England ;  it  is  found  quite 
commonly  in  the  rich  woods  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  is  distributed 
westward  as  far  as  Indiana  and  cen- 
tral Tennessee.  There  is  a  good  speci- 
men under  cultivation  at  the  Arnold  ar- 
Andromcda.  boretum,  near  Boston. 

A  most  charming  shrub  which  is  fre- 
quently seen  on  the  roadsides  of  the  coast  States, 
North  and  South,  particularly  in  the  pine  barrens  of 
New  Jersey,  is  Leucothce  racemosa ;  this  has  beauti- 
ful long,  upright  but  slightly  curved  racemes  of  flow- 
ers, white,  fragrant,  and  drooping.  Each  spike  is-  from 
three  to  four  inches  long,  with  from  twelve  to  eight- 
een (sometimes  more)  urn-shaped  blossoms.  The 


THE  WOODLAND  ROAD.  77 

leaves  are  from  one  to  two  inches  long,  smooth, 
pointed,  and  sharply  toothed.  This  shrub  grows 
from  four  to  ten  feet  high,  and  blooms  in  May  or 
June,  but  the  scaly  bracted  flower  spikes  are  formed 
during  the  preceding  summer.  It  is  certainly 
deserving  of  wide  cultivation. 

Still   another    similar    shrub    which 
blooms  in  May,  the  leather  leaf  (Cas- 
sandra   calyculata\    formerly    con- 
fused with  the  species  Andromeda, 
is  commonly  found  beside  the  road 
which  passes  over  low,  wet  grounds 
near  the  coast ;    it    is   frequently 
seen  in  the  pine  barrens  of  New 
Jersey  in  company  with  Leucothce. 
The   tiny,   white,   urn-shaped   flow- 
ers are  evenly  distributed  over  the 
branchlets,  each  one  growing  in  the 
axil  of  the  small  leaf.     About  twenty 
of  these  smaller  leaves  occupy  a  six- 

p 

inch  terminal  length  of  the  branch-    Leather  Leaf, 
lets,  forming  with  the  pretty  flowers  a 
one-sided  decorative  cluster.     The  leather  leaf  is  well 
named,  for  its  leaves  are  thick  and  leathery,  shiny 
above  and  rust-colored  beneath,  about  an  inch  long, 
tough,  nearly  if  not  quite  free  from  teeth,  and  almost 
evergreen.      It  grows  from  two  to  three  feet  high 


78      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

and  is  thickly  branched.  Its  geographical  distribu- 
tion is  from  Maine  to  Minnesota,  and  southward  to 
Georgia. 

Closely  related  to  the  shrubs  already  mentioned, 
and  more  beautiful  in  the  larger  development  of  its 
decorative,  frosty,  waxy,  white  flowers  is  the  familiar 
mountain  laurel  (Kalmia  latifolid).  This  shrub 
reaches  its  finest  growth  in  Pennsylvania  and  New 
Jersey,  where  it  forms,  on  damp  ground,  dense 
thickets  from  four  to  ten  and  sometimes  thirty  feet 
high.  In  May  or  June  it  is  in  full  blossom,  and  its 
showy  clusters  of  pink-tinged  buds  and  flowers  I 
regard  as  the  most  beautiful  of  all  our  early  wild 
flowers.  The  flowers  of  the  kalmia  must  be  seen 
under  a  magnifying  glass  to  be  thoroughly  appreci- 
ated, and  it  is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  add  that 
this  revelation  of  its  perfect  form  and  beauty  will 
create  a  lasting  impression  on  one's  memory.  No 
other  wild  flower  possesses  such  exact  symmetry,  and 
few,  if  any  such  splendid  frosty  sheen.  Kalmia  is 
distributed  chiefly  along  the  mountains,  from  Maine 
to  western  Florida.  Its  lance-ovate  leaves  differ 
from  the  preceding  species  in  being  much  larger,  as 
well  as  bright  green  and  smooth  on  both  sides. 

The  crowning  glory  of  the  Heath  family  is  the 
rhododendron.  The  flower  which  we  see  in  the  pub- 
lic parks  in  early  June  is  most  likely  to  be  a  hybrid 


THE  \VOODLAND  ROAD.  79 

of  Rhododendron  Catawbiense  (a  native  species)  and 
R.  arboreum;  the  latter  is  a  species  which  comes 
from  the  Himalayas,  and  is  not  hardy.  It.  Ponticum 
is  a  species  from  Asia  Minor,  hardy  in  the  North,  hut 
only  as  a  low  shrub ;  this  has  a  dark  magenta-purple 
flower,  which  appears  in  late  spring.  The  hybrid 
rhododendrons  are  of  various  colors ;  those  partaking 
chiefly  of  the  Catawbiense  characteristics  are  distin- 
guished by  broad,  flat,  broad-pointed  glossy  leaves,  and 
purple  or  light  lilac-blue  flowers.  A  prominent  char- 
acteristic of  the  rhododendron  is  the  large  conical 
bud  which  passes  through  the  severe  cold  of  our 
Northern  winters  unharmed,  and  the  gracefully 
drooping,  evergreen  leaves  clustered  in  a  circle  below 
the  bud  which  terminates  the  branchlet. 

Beside  the  road  where  the  swampy  ground  meets 
its  borders  we  will  possibly  meet  in  May  the  "  leafless 
blooms  "  of  the  delicate  magenta-pink  rhodora  {Rho- 
dodendron Rhodora\  about  the  charms  of  which 
Emerson  sang.  I  never  thought  the  flower  a  "  rival 
of  the  rose,"  nor  have  I  been  particularly  impressed 
with  its  beauty ;  its  color  is  too  near  the  unpopular 
magenta  to  make  it  a  favorite  with  anybody  but  an 
enthusiastic  poet.  But  the  magenta  flower  is  ex- 
tremely dainty  in  form,  and  so  long  as  the  tardy  New 
England  spring  brings  a  mere  handful  of  rival  blos- 
soms, this  one  appears  as  beautiful  and  showy  as  one 


80      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

could  wish.  The  flowers  appear  before  the  some- 
what hairy,  pale-green  leaves.  The  shrub  grows  from 
one  to  three  feet  high,  with  each  stem  divided  into 
four  or  five  branchlets,  which  are  terminated  by  the 
encircling  flower  clusters.  The  rhodora  is  readily 
found  in  the  vicinity  of  Concord  and  Lexington, 
Mass.  It  is  also  seen  in  cultivation  in  the  Arnold 
arboretum  near  Boston,  and  the  Harvard  Botanic 
Garden,  Cambridge. 

The  great  laurel  (Rhododendron  maxima)  is 
somewhat  rare  from  Maine  to  Ohio,  but  quite  com- 
mon in  the  mountains  of  Pennsylvania  and  south- 
ward. It  has  large,  thick  leaves,  and  showy  pink  or 
white  flowers,  which  bloom  in  July  or  August.  It  is 
a  tall  shrub,  from  six  to  twenty  feet  high,  frequently 
found  on  the  wooded  banks  of  mountain  streams. 
We  are  not  likely  to  meet  it  on  the  roadside,  but  a 
near  relation  is  far  more  apt  to  adorn  the  wooded 
borders  of  the  highway,  at  least  in  the  southern  part 
of  New  York ;  this  is  the  purple  azalea  or  pinxter 
flower  (Rhododendron  nudiflorum),  which  grows 
from  three  to  six  feet  high,  and  bears  handsome 
blossoms  an  inch  and  a  half  across,  slightly  fragrant, 
and  variously  colored  with  pink,  magenta,  and  pale 
yellow.  This  shrub  is  usually  found  on  the  banks  of 
sluggish  streams  and  the  borders  of  swamps;  it  is 
not  very  common  on  the  wooded  roadsides  in  New 


THE  WOODLAND  ROAD. 


81 


England,  and  is  only  occasionally  found  on  those  of 
the  Middle  States.    In  the  South  it  is  quite  abundant. 

The  swamp  honeysuckle  (Rho- 
dodendron viscosum)  is  a  some- 
what   sticky    white  -  flowered 
azalea,   which    grows    on   the 
borders  of  swamps,  quite  com- 
monly in  the  southern  parts 
of     New     England.        It 
blooms    in    June,   and    is 
usually  found  not  far  from 
the   roadside  in  the  marshes 
near  the   coast. 


Rhododendron  viscosum. 


Labrador  Tea. 

r 


Quite   an   amount  of  the  swamp 
honeysuckle      may     be 
gathered  early  in  the 
summer     in     the 
swampy    borders 
of  the  roads  near 
Buzzard's  Bay  and 
Wood's  Holl,  Mass. 
While   we    are    still 
on  the  highway  which  pass- 
es    through     the    cold,     damp, 
wooded  glens  of  the  Northern  hills 
we  may  look  for  the  shrub  known 
as   Labrador  tea  (Ledum  latifoli- 
um)  ;    it    grows   in   cold   bogs   or 


82      FAMILIAR  FEATURES    OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

woods  from  New  England  to  Pennsylvania,  Michi- 
gan, Minnesota,  and  northward.  The  leaves  are 
about  two  inches  long,  very  white-woolly  or  velvety 
beneath,  narrow,  like  willow  leaves,  and  without 
teeth,  but  strongly  rolled  at  the  edge.  The  flowers 
are  small,  white,  and  the  little  corollas  have  live  dis- 
tinct petals.  They  appear  in  May  and  June  and 
sometimes  continue  through  July. 
The  shrub  grows  from  one  to 
five  feet  high.  In  olden  times 
its  astringent  leaves  were  used 
as  a  substitute  for  tea. 

One  of  the  most  attractive  and 
fragrant   members   of  the  Heath 
family  is    the   white    alder   or 
sweet  pepper  bush  (Clethra 
alnifolia).       This     beautiful 
shrub  is  as  worthy  of  cultiva- 
tion as  the  shad  bush  or  the 
mountain  laurel.     Not  infrequent- 
ly it  appears  in  the  water  borders  of 
our  parks.     The  leaves  are  from  two  to 
ciethL  four    inches   long,    wedge-shaped,  and 

toothed  at  the  upper  edge.  The  small 
flowers  appear  in  July  or  August,  in  long,  terminal, 
upright  spikes.  They  are  similar  in  form  to  those  of 
Labrador  tea,  but  they  have  in  addition  a  sweet,  heavy 


THE  WOODLAND  ROAD.  83 

odor.  Tliis  shrub  is  common  in  the  dense  copses 
that  flank  the  marshes  near  the  coast,  from  Maine  to 
Georgia.  The  perfume  of  the  white  alder,  like  that 
of  the  common  milkweed,  is  cloyingly  sweet,  but  both 
odors,  as  I  remember  them,  are  pleasantly  reminis- 
cent of  the  heat  and  drowsy  idleness  of  midsummer, 
and  they  are  inseparable  from  the  peaceful  hum  of 
the  bumblebee,  the  intermittent  "zipping"  of  the 
green  grasshopper  (Orchelimum  vulgare),  and  the 
vigorous,  loud  s-szip,  s-szip,  s-szip  of  the  greener, 
cone-headed  grasshopper  (Oonocephalus  ensiger). 
Clethra  grows  from  three  to  ten  feet  high,  and  is  so 
beautiful  when  in  full  bloom  that  I  greatly  wonder 
why  it  is  not  in  common  cultivation ;  but,  like  Cas- 
sandra, Andromeda,  Leucothm,  and  "several  other 
splendid  members  of  the  Heath  family,  it  is  left  to 
bloom  in  its  native  wilds,  while  innumerable  foreign 
species  of  less  attractive  appearance  are  put  in  the 
gardener's  hands  for  him  to  nurse  with  arduous  care, 
resulting  in  indifferent  success  through  our  rigorous 
Northern  winters. 

There  are  four  other  lesser  members  of  this  in- 
teresting family,  all  of  which  are  common  on  the 
wooded  road.  The  first  of  these  is  prince's  pine  or 
pipsissewa  (Chimaphila  umbellata).  This  beautiful 
little  evergreen-leaved  plant  puts  forth  its  waxy, 
flesh -pink  blossoms  in  June  and  JuJy.  Let  us  look 


84      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Pipsissewa. 


at  a  single  flower  under  the  magnifying  glass.  What 
a  revelation  of  dainty,  frosty  beauty  it  is!  There 
are  five  petals  which  are  cream-white 
or  pale  flesh-colored ;  these  are  well 
turned  back  in  the  mature  flower, 
and  just  inside  of  them  we  see  a 
narrow  circle  of  subdued  magen- 
ta, over  which  are  displayed  in 
high  relief  ten  handsome  brown-pur- 
ple anthers  which  are  conspicuously 
two-horned.  In  the  center  of  all  rises 
a  tiny,  pink-yellow  tinged  dome.  Not 
only  is  the  little  flower  beautiful,  but 
it  is  filled  with  a  rare  and  delicate  perfume.  We 
may  look  for  it  beneath  the  spruce  and  pine  trees 
on  dry  needle-covered  ground.  Not  far  from  the 
pipsissewa  we  may  also  see  the  shin  leaf  (Pyrola 
elliptica\  whose  nodding  flowers  with  prominent, 
curved,  taillike  styles  are  also  waxy,  but  green- 
ish white.  The  dull  -  green,  somewhat  spoon- 
shaped  leaves  rise  in  a  circle  from  the  base  of  the 
plant.  The  flower  stem  is  from  six  to  nine  inches 
high. 

I  have  found  the  pipsissewa  and  the  shin  leaf 
growing  side  by  side  in  the  woods  about  Saddle 
River  Valley,  1ST.  J.,  and  on  the  borders  of  the 
woodland  roads  which  skirt  the  mountains  of  New 


THE  WOODLAND  ROAD. 


85 


Hampshire ;  but  both  flowers  are  common 
throughout  the  Northern  States. 

The   last   two    members  of   the 
Heath  family  are  the   daintiest  arid 
oddest  of  all ;   these   are    the   ghostly 
white  Indian  pipe  (Monotropa  uniflo- 
ra],  with   its   frail,  fleshy  single   flower 
familiar  to  us   all,  and  the  tawny  or  red- 
dish false  beech  drops  (Monotropa  Hy- 
popitys).     We  find  the  latter  on  the  bor- 
ders of  oak  or  pine  woods,  flowering 
in  summer  time.     The  stem  is  from 
four  to  ten   inches  high,  and  bears 
tiny  fragrant  flowers  with  four  or  five 
petals  of  a  ruddy,  or  pale  terra-cotta 
hue. 

The  Monofoopas  are  common 
throughout  the  East.  They  flourish 
on  the  decomposed  vegetation  of 
damp  rich  woods. 


False  Beech 
Drops. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


MEADOW    SINGERS. 

THE  soft  bleating  note  that  comes  to  our  ears 
from  the  marsh  in  summer  time  is  that  of  the  so- 
called  tree  toad  (Hyla  versico- 
lor\  who  was  given  his  Lat- 
in name  because  he  pos- 
sesses an  extraordinary 
ability  to  assume  a  color 
analogous  with  his  sur- 
roundings. (Metachro- 
sis is  the  term  usually 
employed,  meaning  a 
shifting  over  from  one 
But  it  is  a  slow  process  with 
the  little  animal,  who  really  requires  quite  a  lit- 
tle time  to  "  get  over "  from  dull  brown  to  bright 
green.  He  does  this,  however,  and,  according  to 
the  brown  trunk,  green  leaf,  gray  stone,  or  green- 
white  lichen  on  which  he  is  perched,  proceeds  to 


Tree  Toad. 


color  to  another.) 


MEADOW  SINGERS.  87 

match  colors  as  a  lady  would  in  the  purchasing  of 
dress  material.  He  is  most  commonly  arrayed  in 
warm  gray. 

The  figure  of  the  tree  toad  is  not  as  charming  as 
its  voice  or  its  color.  He  is  covered  with  large  and 
small  warty  excrescences  from  top  to  toe,  and  there 
is  a  prominent  loose  fold  of  skin  across  his  yellow- 
white  breast.  He  is  short  and  stumpy  in  head  and 
limb,  as  well  as  broad-toed  ;  hi  fact,  he  is  not  aristo- 
cratic looking  like  his  cousins  Acris  and  Pickeringii. 
But  his  voice  possesses  a  most  winning,  pathetic 
quality  which  I  can  only  liken  to  the  musical,  bubbling 
bleat  of  a  miniature  lamb;  there  is  something  at- 
tractive and  soothing  about  it.  This  should  not  be 
confused  with  the  song  of  the  common  toad  (Bufo 
American/us),  which  can  be  closely  imitated  by 

whistling  the  note  C  two  octaves  A 

0       —  _  tdiib^ 
above   middle  C   and   humming, 

sotto  voce,  A  in  the  second  octave 
below  middle  C,  thus  : 

The  tone  is  sustained  uni- 
formly for  about  four  seconds, 
then  an  answer  comes  from  across  the  pond  a 
musical  third  lower — A  in  the  treble  and  E  in 
the  bass. 

Later  in  the  summer  we  hear  the  combined  voices 
of  these  singers  in  the  hedges,  by  the  roadside  fence, 


Wp-r-r-r-r-r 


88      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

in  the  orchard,  and  even  on  the  border  of  the  wood. 
In  the  northern  parts  of  Yermont  and  New  Hamp- 
shire I  have  rarely  heard  Hylob  versicolor ;  but  in  the 
Highlands  of  the  Hudson,  on  Long  Island,  and  in 
various  localities  of  New  Jersey  his  voice  is  a  very 
familiar  one  to  me.  The  tone  is  not  prolonged  be- 
yond two  seconds  (rarely  a  trine  over  this),  and  it  is 
characterized  by  a  well-marked  crepitation.  The 
drowsy,  droning  voice  of  the  common  toad  as  he 
sings  in  the  marshes  in  early  summer  is  dual-toned 
and  far  more  musical  ;  indeed,  it  has  all  the  mysteri- 
ous charm  of  a  soothing  lullaby,  and  in  my  own 
mind  it  is  intimately  associated  with  the  romantic, 
slow,  introductory  movement  of  Beethoven's  so- 
called  Moonlight  Sonata,  a  fitting  musical  interpre- 
tation of  the  peace  and  quiet  of  summer  life  in  the 
country,  just  as  the  last,  impetuous,  hurried  move- 
ment is  interpretative  of  the  restless,  wearing  life  of 
the  city. 

Among  the  singers  of  the  meadow  not  one  is 
quite  as  attractive  in  appearance  as  the  beautiful, 
pale,  ivory-colored  tree  cricket  ((Ecanthus  niveus). 
He  is  sometimes  called  the  "  snowy  tree  cricket,"  as 
his  ethereal  body  and  glassy  wings  suggest  a  color 
which  is  the  very  antithesis  of  black.  The  song  of 
this  little  creature  does  not  issue  from  the  grass,  but 
from  some  tall  weed  stem  or  tree  trunk.  The  tone 


THE  HIGHLANDS  OF  THE 
HUDSON,  AT  WEST  POINT 
ORANGE  CO.,  N.  Y. 

THE   TREE   CRICKET, 
(ECANTHUS   NIVEUS. 


MEADOW  SINGERS. 


89 


is  usually  pitched  in  E  and  it  recurs  with  rhythmical 
precision.     Burroughs  calls  the  GEcanthus  the  "  purr- 


92          4  6  sings  and  46  rests  per  minute. 


ing  cricket,"  and  speaks  of  its  song  as  coming  "in 
waves,"  which  is  not  only  true  of  the  soloist  but  of 
the  general  chorus.  The  sound  is  regularly  tossed 
back  and  forth  like  those  sustained  chords  which 
occur  early  in  the  first  movement  of  Beethoven's 
Fifth  Symphony,  but  the  musical  effect  of  the  grand 
chorus  is  a  distinct  alternation  of  two  tones  thus : 


2nd.  cricket. 


an  exact   counterpart   of  the  opening  notes   of  the 
scherzo  in  the  Third   Symphony.     How  under  the 


• 

7.1/3  J 
7H4  3 


I 


90       FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF   THE  ROADSIDE. 

moonlight  (not  sun!)  it  was  possible  for  the  great 
Beethoven  to  so  exactly  reproduce  the  music  which 
one  hears  at  night  in  midsummer  among  the  High- 
lands of  the  Hudson  in  the  vicinity  of  Anthony's 
Nose  and  Storm  King  without  ever  having  set  his 
foot  upon  American  soil  it  is  difficult  to  imagine! 
For  there  are  no  singing  fields  in  the  old  country, 
comparatively  speaking;  the  meadows  of  England, 
Tuscany,  or  Switzerland  in  May,  June,  or  August 
are  silent — that,  at  least,  is  my  remembrance  of  them. 
And  I  may  also  add  that  a  field  in  the  White  Moun- 
tain region  of  New  Hampshire  is  only  half  musical, 
again  comparatively  speaking.  The  meadow  music 
which  one  may  hear  at  twilight  on  Long  Island, 
Staten  Island,  in  the  Catskill  Mountains,  in  the 
Highlands  of  the  Hudson,  around  Lake  Mahopac  in 
Putnam  County,  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Niagara  Falls, 
N.  Y.,  in  Saddle  Eiver,  Bergen  County,  and  the 
counties  of  Monmouth,  Atlantic,  and  Salem  in  New 
Jersey,  and  in  various  parts  of  Delaware,  Maryland, 
and  Virginia,  is  far  beyond  what  one  will  hear  in 
either  Maine  or  New  Hampshire.  I  refer  exclusively 
to  insect  music.  On  or  about  the  first  of  September, 
when  the  wooded  slopes  of  the  Navesink  Highlands, 
New  Jersey,  are  thrilling  with  the  songs  of  crickets 
and  katydids,  the  woods  and  fields  of  northern  New 
.Hampshire  are  almost  silent.  But  we  can  not  expect 


EAGLE   CLIFF,    FRANCONIA    NOTCH, 
WHITE    MOUNTAINS,    N.  H. 


MEADOW  SINGERS.  91 

everything  all  at  once  or  in  just  one  place ;  so  it  is 
the  case  that  the  woods  of  New  Jersey  do  not  know 
the  song  of  the  hermit  thrush,  but  the  forest  glens  be- 
neath Eagle  Cliff  and  Mount  Kinsman,  in  the  Fran- 
conia  Range,  N.  H.,  echo  his  music  from  June  until 
August. 

But  I. must  return  to  our  tree  crickets.  The  little 
(Ecanthus  niveus  begins  his  trilling  song  at  sunset 
and  continues  it  throughout  the  night.  He  tunes  his 
fiddle  about  the  end  of  July,  and  does  not  finish  his 
concert  until  the  autumn  days  grow  cold.  I  under- 
stand that  .the  female  of  this  species  deposits  her  eggs 
in  the  pithy  stems  of  the  raspberry  and  blackberry 
vines  and  thereby  causes  much  trouble  for  the  small- 
fruit  grower. 

Another  closely  allied  species  is  called  the  broad- 
winged  climbing  cricket  ((Ecanthus 
latipennis).       This     cricket     is 
larger  than  the  preceding,  and 
differs  very  slightly  in 
color  from  it ;    it  is 
ivory  -  white.         The 
elytra — that  is,  the  two 

Superior     wing     COVerS—          Broad-winged  Climbing  Cricket. 

are  glassy  and  perfectly 

transparent.     It  differs  from  the  species  (E.  niveus 

in  having  the  top  of  the  head  and  lower  half  of  the 


92      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


antennae  suffused  with  pink  or  pink-brown ;  it  also 
generally,  if  not  always,  lacks  the  small  gray-brown 
spots  which  are  invariably  present  in  (E.  niveus  on 
the  lower  face  of  the  two  lowest  joints  of  the  an- 
tennae. The  song  of  this  broad-winged  cricket  need 
not  be  confused  with  that  of  (E.  niveus ;  it  is  like  a 
continuous,  shrill,  high-pitched  rattle-whistle. 

(Ecanthus  latipennis,  it  is  said,  prefers  the  shoots 
of  the  grapevine  in  which  to  lay  its  eggs.  It  is  dis- 
tributed southward  and  westward,  but  doubtfully  as 
,  far  Northwest  as  Rock  Is- 
land, 111.  It  does  not  occur 
in  the  Northeastern  States. 

The  most  remark- 
able tree  cricket  is 
that  named  (Ecanthus  fas- 
ciatus.  This  little  crea- 
ture sings  all  day  and  all  night, 
in  sunshine,  cloud  shadow,  and 
dusky  evening.  Its  favorite  resort 
is  the  weedy  roadside,  or  the  hedges 
where  tall  sunflowers  and  golden- 
rods  abound.  It  sings  about  the 
middle  of  August  and  continues  until  the  time  of 
frost.  The  predominating  color  of  the  wings  is  white 
tinted  green,  but  the  body  varies  from  an  ivory-white 
marked  with  gray- brown  to  black.  In  typical  speci- 


Tree  Cricket 
((E./asciatus). 


MEADOW  SINGERS. 


93 


mens  the  head  and  its  vicinity  are  whitish,  with  three 
distinct  gray -brown  or  dark-brown  stripes.  The  song 
of  (E.  fasciatus  is  shrill  and  rapid ;  it  is  varied  in 
length,  lasting  from  two  or  three  seconds  to  one  or 
two  minutes  without  interruption.  During  the  per- 
formance the  wings  of  tree  crickets  are  raised  to  a 
perpendicular  position  and  vibrate  so  rapidly  that  the 
motion  is  not  discernible.  The  notes  of  (E.  fasciatus 
occur  at  the  rate  of  from  twelve  to  sixteen  a  second, 

thus : 

-  J  *  92     about-  12  notes  persecond.^ 


These  marvelous  little  musicians  with  the  glassy 
wings  can  outdo  the  swiftest  "  presto  "  of  the  piano 
virtuoso,  by  producing  nearly  one  thousand  notes  per 
minute  !  The  geographical  range  of  (E.  fasciatus  is 
the  same  as  that  of  (E.  niveus,  from  southern  New 
England  to  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  and  southward.* 
It  is  larger  than  (E.  niveus  and  has  the  longest  an- 
tennae of  all  the  species. 

(Ecanthus  angustipennis  is  a  narrow-winged  spe- 
cies, less  common  in  the  West  than  the  species 
already  mentioned,  and  more  at  home  in  the  broad 


*  (E.  fasciatus  is  reported  as  abundant  along  the  roadsides  of 
Champaign  Co.,  Illinois. 


94      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


meadows  than  (E.  fasciatus.  The  species  (E.  angus- 
tipennisj  (E.  latipennis,  and  (E.  niveus  prefer  the 
cultivated  field  to  the  weedy  wayside. 

This  slender  cricket  is  white,  deeply  suffused  with 
green,  has  longer  and  slenderer  hind  legs  than  those 
of  the  other  species,  and  a  smaller  head.  The  song 

resembles    that   of    (E. 
fasciatus,    but    is    less 
shrill,  and   lasts   but 
from   three    to    five 
seconds,   with    inter- 
vals   of    corresponding 
length. 

The  song  is  usually 
heard  at  night.  Both 
the  song  and  the  singer 
have  been  confusedly 

connected  with  the  rhythmical  (E.  niveus ;  an  atten- 
tive ear,  however,  can  not  fail  to  detect  a  wide  differ- 
ence in  the  songs.  CE.  niveus  utters  its  t-re-e-e,  t-re-ee, 
t-re-ee,  in  metronome  time,  fifty  trills  occurring  in  a 
minute — Jerome  McNeil  says  seventy,  but  I  give  the 
results  of  my  own  personal  experience.  In  different 
kinds  of  weather  crickets  sing  faster  or  slower.  In 
the  case  of  (E.  angustipennis  the  song  is  slower  than 
that  of  (E.  niveus. 

The  tree  crickets  are  remarkable  for  their  rhyth- 


Narrow-winged  Tree 
Cricket. 


MEADOW  SINGERS.  05 

mical  music,  and  however  out  of  time  the  voices 
may  be  for  a  short  season,  they  inevitably  be- 
come synchronous  or  antiphonal,  and  to  my  ear 
some  large  section  of  the  grand  chorus  is  always  an- 
tiphonal. This  perfectly  charming  effect  of  musical 
tones  being  tossed  back  and  fourth,  which  I  have 
already  referred  to  as  exactly  reproducing  the  open- 
ing notes  of  the  scherzo  in  Beethoven's  Fifth  Sym- 
phony, is  what  Thoreau  heard  when  he  likened  the 
sound  to  "  slumberous  breathing,"  and  what  William 
Hamilton  Gibson  called  "  a  pulsating  vesper  chorus 
...  a  lullaby  between  the  evening  and  the  morning 
twilights."  Hawthorn  describes  it  as  an  "  audible 
stillness,"  and  makes  his  Canterbury  poet  think  "that 
if  moonlight  could  be  heard,  it  would  sound  just  like 
that."  Of  all  the  music  in  the  moonlit  field  which 
holds  our  ears  entranced  as  we  linger  on  the  high- 
way, this  is  the  sweetest  and  best ;  it  is  the  cricket's 
love  song !  I  often  wonder  why  Irving  did  not 
allude  to  it  in  the  Legend  of  Sleepy  Hollow,  be- 
cause just  near  the  bridge  where  the  superstitious 
schoolmaster  "  lost  his  head  "  the  music  of  (E.  nive-us 
is  rife  from  late  August  to  the  time  when  the  days 
grow  cold.* 

*  As  the  night  when  the  schoolmaster  rode  abroad  was  a  cloudy 
one,  possibly  the  tree  crickets  were  not  singing  as  usual ;  a  warm 
moonlight  night  is  the  best  one  for  cricket  music. 


96      FAMILIAR  FEATURES   OF   THE  ROADSIDE. 

A  far  less  musical  singer  than  the  tree  cricket 
lives  in  the  meadow  Brasses,  and  favors  us  in  broadest 

o  ~ 

daylight  in  the  w^arm  days  of 
July   with  his   gip,   gip,   gip, 
gip-zee-e-e-e-e-e-e !        This    is 
the  common   meadow  grass- 
hopper Orchelimum  vulgare. 
He  is  green,  and  he  has  long 
antennae,  so  he  must  not  be 
confused    with     the    short, 
stumpy-feelered,  red-legged 

locust,  who  is  wrongly  called  a  grasshopper.  The 
Orchelimum  is  a  delicately  modeled  creature,  about 
an  inch  long,  with  transparent  wings  through  which 
one  may  readily  see  the  green  body.  His  legs  are 
slender,  and  at  the  shoulder  end  of  each  wing  is  the 
hard,  glassy  formation  which,  when  the  wing  is  rapidly 
vibrated,  rubs  on  the  concave  expansion  of  the  other 
wing  and  causes  the  sharp,  zigging  sound.  The  locust 

\ ad  id,. 


/  Meadow 

Grasshopper. 


Gip.   gip.  gip.  gip.    zee-e 

(grasshopper)  in  flying,  in  a  very  different  way,  pro- 
duces a  clapping  or  snapping  sound  with  his  wings.* 


*  See  Trimerotropis  verruculata,  page  103. 


MEADOW  SINGERS. 


The  green  grasshopper  is  a  day  singer,  who  revels 
in  the  noontime  heat  with  the  mercury  standing 
at  90°. 

The  brown  cricket  (Gryllus  dUbreviatus\*  com- 
mon in  the  Middle  States,  who  lives  in  the  pastures 
and  the  grassy  borders 
of  the  road,  is  a  day- 
light and  twilight 
singer ;  his  sharp 
musical  note  also 
thrills  interruptedly 
from  sunset  to  sun- 
rise along  with  the 
softer  and  more  regu- 
lar note  of  the  white 
cricket.  In  June  and 

July  the  meadows  and  wooded  pastures  are  filled 
with  the  cricket's  music.  His  chirp  is  fitful  and 
shrill ;  it  is  not  really  a  trill,  but  the  rapid  repeti- 
tion of  a  single  note  from  three  to  five  times  with 
irregular  intervals.  I  can  not  rely  on  the  black 
cricket  for  three-four  time  or  six-eight  time ;  he 
"  gangs  his  ain  gait,"  as  the  Scotchman  would  say, 
and  leaves  me  and  my  metronome  to  go  mine. 

*  G.  neglectus  is  the  most  common  New  England  cricket.     G. 
luctuosus  is  also  common  ;  its  fore  wings  are  very  long  and  project 
beyond  the  abdomen.     It  is  one  of  our  largest  crickets. 
8 


Brown  Cricket,  and 
tiny  Spotted  Cricket 


98      FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

This  is  not  the  case  with  the  white  cricket ;  he 
is  the  soul  of  rhythmical  accuracy.  Our  brown 
cricket,  like  the  grasshopper,  makes  his  music  by  a 
rapid  vibration  of  his  wings.  The  song  is  produced 
by  a  rubbing  together  of  the  superior  wings,  which 
are  hard,  glassy,  and  roughened  on  their  contiguous 
edges  ;  thus,  the  rapid  flitting  of  the  wings  produces 
the  musical  stridulation — more  musical  and  less  strid- 
ulous,  however,  than  the  grasshopper's  zigging  note. 
It  is,  of  course,  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  remark 
that  it  is  not  the  female  but  the  male  insect  who 
is  always  the  musician. 

There  are  several  species  of  crickets  which  are 
common.  The  one  I  have  already  mentioned  is  most 
generally  found  in  fields  and  on  roadsides ;  it  is  what 
is  called  a  social  cricket — that  is,  it  lives  with  its  fel- 
lows and  does  not  inhabit  a  burrow.  Another  com- 
mon cricket  (Gryllus  Pennsylvanicus)  burrows  under 
every  stone  in  my  garden ;  he  is  not  a  social  char- 
acter. 

The  tiny  spotted  cricket  (Nemobius  vittatus\  of  a 
brownish  striped  color,  is  still  another  singer  whose 
spasmodic,  interrupted  chirp  is  constantly  heard  in 
the  fields  during  late  summer  and  early  autumn, 
from  New  Hampshire  to  Maryland  and  Nebraska. 
This  musician  has  a  variable  song  made  up  of  a  trill 
and  a  sharp  preparatory  click,  thus : 


MEADOW  SINGERS. 


99 


,8/a 


trd  r  if  ifiyMfiTMffMfiTf 


During  his  singing  his  wings  are  elevated  at  a 
considerable  angle  from  the  body. 

Still  another  meadow  singer  is  the  cone-headed 
grasshopper  (Conocephalus  ensiger).  This  is  the  com- 
monest species  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the 
most  familiar  bright,  light- 
green  insect  of  the  culti- 
vated field,  as  well  as 
the  salt  marshes 
near  the  seashore. 
Rarely  he  is  a 
brownish  straw 
color,  but  in 
any  case  his 
narrow,  point- 
ed forehead 
is  a  sufficient 
proof  of  his 

identity ;  he  is,  besides,  a  very  long,  slender  grass- 
hopper, with  extremely  long  fine  feelers  and  a  sharp, 
rasping  voice,  quite  unlike  that  of  any  of  the  other 
meadow  musicians.  His  note  is  an  emphatic,  sud- 
denly loud  s-szip,  s-szip,  s-szip,  s-szip,  continuous, 
rapid,  and  penetrating  beyond  description.  In  fact, 


Coiie-lieuded  Grasshopper. 


100    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

it  is  one  of  the  least  interesting  and  most  ear-ring- 
ing voices  of  the  meadow  or  roadside.  He  is  sharp- 
toothed,  too,  as  well  as  sharp-tongued,  a  fact  which 
I  have  more  than  once  ascertained  by  a  too  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  really  handsome  insect ;  but 
William  Hamilton  Gibson  makes  game  of  him,  and 
calls  him  "the  clown  of  all  this  heyday"  so  justly 
that  we  certainly  should  read  Singing  Wings  *  for 
the  sake  of  this  amusing  and  fuller  description. 

But  speaking  of  "  biters  "  reminds  me  of  another 
sharp-toothed  character,  whose  vicious  nip  is  some- 
times sufficiently  tenacious  to  cause  him  the  loss  of 
his  head.  The  katydid  (Microcentrum  retinervis)  is 
a  frequent  singer  on  the  highway  in  the  evening 
hours.  He  looks  like  a  large  green  grasshopper,  but 
he  has  larger  wings,  which  are  leaflike  and  delicately 
veined  ;  his  antennae  are  much  longer  than  his  body, 
and  his  slender,  long  legs  give  him  a  peculiarly  dis- 
tinguished appearance,  quite  superior  to  that  of  a 
plebeian  grasshopper.  The  katydid  lives  among  the 
trees  and  hides  under  the  leaves  in  the  daytime,  but 
as  soon  as  the  sun  sets  emerges  from  seclusion  and 
begins  his  "  petulant  and  shrill  "  tirade.  Dr.  Holmes 
calls  him  a  "  testy  little  dogmatist,"  and,  as  William 
Hamilton  Gibson  remarks,  falls  into  an  excusable 

*  See  Harper's  Magazine  for  1886,  vol.  Ixxiii. 


THE   HIGHLANDS   OF 
NAVESINK, 
MONMOUTH   CO.,    N.  J. 

KATYDIDS, 
CYRTOPHYLLUS    CONCAVUS 

(ABOVE) 

MICROCENTRUM    RETINERVIS 

(BELOW). 


MEADOW  SINGEKS.  101 

entomological  error  by  accusing  the  particular  insect 
which  he  heard  of  being  a  female  with  a  quivering, 
trilling  voice !  But  in  this  case,  the  truth  is,  the 
male  insects  do  all  the  disputing.  The  katydid's 
voice  is  too  familiar  to  need  comment  or  description 
here.  The  tones  are  harsh  and  uttered  in  triplets  like 
detached  bits  of  the  cicada's  zee-e-e-e-e  (the  locust), 
but  the  method  by  which  the  noise  is  produced  is 
curious.  In  the  upper  portion  of  each  green  wing 
cover,  near  the  point  where  it  is  joined  to  the  body, 
just  where  it  overlaps  the  other,  is  a  glassy  formation 
set  in  a  sort  of  frame ;  as  the  insect  opens  and  shuts 
its  wing  covers,  these  frames  strike  each  other,  and 
the  result  is  the  zig-zig-zig  which  we  know  so  well. 
On  or  about  the  first  of  September  the  wooded  slopes 
of  the  Highlands  of  Navesink  resound  with  the  quar- 
relsome voices  of  these  curious  insects  ;  in  the  White 
Mountains  I  do  not  recollect  of  having  heard  even 
a  single  disputer  "  having  it  all  his  own  way." 

There  are  two  common  species  of  the  katydid, 
the  one  above  described  being  the  most  abundant  in 
the  Northern  States  ;  it  is  usually  called  the  angular- 
winged  katydid.  The  other  species,  also  common  in 
the  Central  and  Eastern  States,  is  named  Oyrtophyl- 
lus  concavus;  its  wing  covers  are  longer  than  its 
wings,  and  they  are  broadly  convex. 

The  so-called  grasshopper  with  very  short  feel- 


102    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Red-legged  Locust. 


ers,  who  is  usually  decked  out  in  a  variety  of  col- 
ors, is  really  a  locust.  The  commonest  species  in 
our  Eastern  fields  is  called  Melanoplus  femur-ru- 
brum*  or,  in  straight  English,  the 
red-legged  locust.*  This 
destructive  insect  is  widely 
distributed  over  the  United 
States  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  It  swarms  on  the 
grassy  intervales  of  the  White  Mountain  region,  and 
covers  the  broad  meadows  of  New  Jersey;  it  is 
everywhere,  and  always  a 
perfect  nuisance,  devour- 
ing every  green  thing, 
and  even  relishing  the 
flavor  of  a  silk  umbrella 
or  a  dainty  muslin  dress,  f 

Beware     the     loCUSt !     for       Melanoplus  atlanis,  similar  to  M. 
,       .  ,       ,  .  ,  ,     ,  .,  femur-rubrum. 

besides  his  awkward  habit 

of  staining  one's  clothing  with  "  molasses,"  he  will 
make  a  dainty  repast  off  a  silk  handkerchief  or  the 
printed  flowers  of  a  lawn  dress !  His  song  is  a  some- 
what pianissimo  z-ee-e-e-e,  which  is  produced  by 


*  Another  common  species  is  Melanoplus  atlanis,  similar  to 
the  one  described. 

f  In  Canada  and  New  England  some  years  ago  his  ravages 
were  particularly  extensive  and  destructive. 


MEADOW  SINGERS. 


103 


scraping  or  rubbing  his  legs  against  his  hard-shell 
wing  covers  ;  he  is,  in  fact,  a  veritable  fiddler  in  the 
grand  orchestra  of  the  meadow.  One  musician  does 
not  count  for  much  in  the  noontime  sym- 
phony of  the  singing  wings,  but  when  two 
hundred  thousand  bowstrings  are  in  full 
swing  there  can  be  no  doubt  about 
who  supplies  the  orchestra  with  its 
first  violins !  Although  the  lo- 
cust's music  is  but  an  obligato  ac- 
companiment to  the  high-pitched, 
ringing  voices  of  the  soloists,  it 
soothes  the  ear  with  a  drowsy  x,  Left  wing  of  CE.  ni- 
hum,  which  is  the  very  embodi- 
ment of  midsummer  peace  and 
"  audible  stillness." 

A  rather  large  locust  (Tri- 
merotropis  verruculata)  is  quite 
common  on  the  intervales  of  the 
White  Mountain  district.  This 
creature  flies  like  a  bird,  and  snaps 
his  wings  at  will  during  his  devi- 
ous flight.  He  skims  along  with  a 
sudden  Mack,  Mack,  Hack,  Mack, 
and  gives  a  dip  at  each  "  klack,"  much  in  the  same 
fashion  that  the  yellowbird  utters  its  joyous  chirrup 
during  its  undulating  flight  through  the  twilight  sky. 


veus,  showing  the 
portion  from  A  to  B 
used  for  singing.  Z, 
Left  wing  of  Orche- 
limuin,  showing  the 
vein  in  black  at  C 
used  for  singing.  Both 
drawings  are  copied 
from  cuts  found  in 
several  publications 
— neither  are  true  to 
nature ;  compare  with 
the  succeeding  draw- 
ing of  niveus  wing, 
and  the  wing  on  draw- 
ing of  Orchelhnum. 


104   FAMILIAR  FEATURES    OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

This  insect  is  most  commonly  seen  in  the-  latter  part 
of  August  and  throughout  September ;  it  is  very 
common  on  the  meadows  of  Campton,  N.  II. 

The  locust  called  Stenobotkrus  curti- 
pennis,  a  very  common   species  at  once 
recognized  by  its  very  short  wings,  also 
sings  in   the   Campton   meadows.      This 
musician    uses    both    legs   at    once,   and 
scrapes    his   wing    covers    in    somewhat 
syncopated  time.     But  to  distinguish  his 
Wing  of  (E.     music  from  that   of  the  other  members 
life  of  the  orchestra  is  a  difficult  task.     His 

hissing  notes,  given  out  at  the  rate  of 
six  to  a  second,  continue  for  about  two  seconds, 
then  a  short  pause  and  da  capo.  This  music  is  not 
nearly  as  loud  as  that  of  the  Orchelimum,  nor  as 
continuous;  but  it  has  the  same  hissing  quality. 
The  notes  of  Melanoplus  femur-mibrum  are  irregu- 
lar in  length.  Every  grasshopper  has  his  own  song ;  * 

*  Scudder  says  that  these  insects  stridulate  in  four  different 
ways,  viz. : 

First.  By  rubbing  the  base  of  one  wing  cover  upon  another, 
using  for  that  purpose  the  veins  running  through  the  middle  por- 
tion of  the  wing.  This  method  includes  the  common  crickets  and 
the  tree  crickets. 

Second.  By  a  similar  method,  but  using  the  veins  of  the  inner 
part  of  the  wing.  This  method  includes  the  green  or  long-horned 
grasshoppers. 

Third.  By  rubbing  the  inner  surface  of  the  hind  legs  against 


MEADOW  SINGLES.  105 

the  notes  of  no  two  species  are  exactly  alike,  so  if 
we  will  listen  attentively  to  an  occasional  individual 
song  which  comes  to  our  ears  from  the  border  of 
the  field,  we  can  at  least  be  sure  what  kind  of  a 
creature  it  is  which  sings. 

I   must   not   omit   to   class   among  the   meadow 
singers   the  grasshopper   sparrow,  or  yellow-winged 
sparrow    (Ammodramus  Savannarum   pas- 
serinus\    sometimes    wrongly   called    the 
Savannah         sparrow. 
This  bird  has   the  re- 
markable  gift   of  imi- 
tation to  such  a  degree 
that    we    can    scarcely 

distinguish    his   zigging,  Short- winged  Locust. 

continuous    note    from 

that  of  the  Orchelimum.  His  crown  is  black  with  a 
stripe  of  light  dull  yellow  through  the  center ;  his 
back  is  streaked  with  black,  brown,  red,  and  ashy 
gray,  and  on  his  shoulders  are  edgings  of  yellow. 

The    yellow-winged     sparrow    nests    upon     the 
ground,    and    lays    four    or    five    gray-white    eggs 


the  outer  surface  of  the  wing  covers.     This  method  includes  cer- 
tain locusts  or  short-horned  jumping  grasshoppers. 

Fourth.  By  rubbing  together  the  upper  surface  of  the  front 
edge  of  the  wings  and  the  under  surface  of  the  wing  covers. 
This  method  includes  the  locusts  which  stridulate  during  flight. 


106    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

speckled  with  brown.  Very  frequently  this  bird 
appears  on  the  grassy  roadside,  where  it  flits  about 
shyly  in  and  out  among  the  weeds  and  the  ferns, 
every  other  moment  indulging  in  the  peculiar,  un- 
musical "  sissing  "  note. 


CHAPTEK  YIL 

THE    LITTLE    SONGSTERS THE    YELLOWBIRD, 

SPARROWS,  AND    PHCEBE    BIRD. 

THE  attempt  to  convey  by  note  to  any  one  an 
idea  of  musical  sound  different  from  what  is  gener- 
ally accepted  as  music  I  realize  is  a  questionably 
useful  task;  but  in  my  estimation  it  is  the  only 
practical  way  of  recording  those  familiar  sounds  of 
Nature  which  all  of  us  should  school  ourselves  to 
know  and  trace  to  their  proper  source.  I  would 
suggest,  therefore,  to  those  who  unfortunately  can 
not  read  music,  to  refer  the  bird  songs  to  some  mu- 
sical member  of  the  family,  who,  with  the  aid  of  the 
piano,  will  solve  the  enigmatical  characters  and  thus 
produce  a  close  imitation  of  bird  melody. 

The  best  thing  to  know  about  a  bird  is  his 
song ;  and  this  can  undoubtedly  be  recorded  with 
perfect  accuracy  by  musical  signs ;  but  tone  it  is  not 
possible  to  record,  especially  if  it  is  broken  into 
quarter-tones  and  eighth-tones.  This  is  exactly  what 

the  bird  does,  and  consequently  it  is  extremely  dif- 

107 


108    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

ficult  to  know  whether  he  means  to  sing  A  or  A 
sharp,  or  whether,  on  account  of  a  facile  change  in 
the  quality  of  his  note,  he  means  to  sing  A  at  all ! 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  denying  it,  the 
bird  sings  distinctly  a  minor  or  a  major  third,  and 
also  fifths  and  octaves,  and  not  infrequently  a  good 
bit  of  the  chromatic  scale.  This  simply  means  that 
the  bird  sings  conventional  music,  and  we  are 
justified  in  recording  it  with  conventional  musical 
signs. 

Wagner's  bird  jsong  in  Siegfried  is  nothing  more 
musical  than  an  American  thrush  can  perform ;  the 
thirds  are  true  to  the  thrush's  idea  of  music.  I  place 
the  notes  here  for  comparison  with  the  song  of  the 
hermit  thrush : 


Compare  this  with  the  notes  which  I  have  recorded 
farther  on  (in  Chapter  X),  belonging  to  the  hermit, 
and  estimate  which  would  be  the  more  difficult  bit  for 
the  mocking  bird  to  learn  !  But  the  imitative  music 
of  a  bird  is  artificial  and  only  interesting  because  it 
is  remarkable  and  curious.  The  natural  song  of  any 
bird  is  sweeter  and  more  lovely  by  far  than  the  bald 
whistle  notes  it  can  be  taught  to  imitate.  A  bull- 


THE  LITTLE  SONGSTERS.  109 

finch,  once  a  great  pet  in  our  family,  had  been 
trained  to  sin^  this  : 
But,  true  to  the  ft 
bird  instinct  of 
melody,  he  ren- 
dered the  last  note  B  instead  of  A  and  slurred  it  to  G. 
The  little  yellowbird  in  his  double  chirp  "  slurs  " 
with  even  greater  distinctness, 
as  follows  :  ^ 

But  the   happy  little    creature     \\V       |^ 
that  says  "  chee-ep  "  exactly  like  ' 

the  canary  also  sings  on  the  wing,  and  repeats  the 
slur  with  still  greater  emphasis.  He  dips  along  in 
graceful  undulations,  high  up  in  the  air  —  up  and 
down,  up  and  down  8va.. 


— and  on  each  recov-     .  J/tfT^     f    f 
ery     sings     joyfully     It])  T  \'     l     I 


,-,  j  Chi-  chic- kd-  -ItA-'-ree 

thus: 

The  yellowbird,  it  is  safe  to  say,  does  the  same 
thino-  the  world  over  at  sundown ;  and  when  we  see 


>"'     V-""" 

Flight  of  the  Yellowbird. 

him  in  company  with  the  night  hawk  (only  several 
hundred  feet  below   him),  skimming  the  blue  sky 


HO    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

which  arches  the  Pemigewasset  Valley  in  New 
Hampshire,  we  may  be  sure  he  will  very  soon  be 
performing  the  same  antics  four  hundred  miles  away 
among  the  hills  of  Pennsylvania. 

I  never  see  or  hear  the  little  fellow  without  think- 
ing of  that  line  in  the  old  familiar  hymn  which  runs  : 
Or  if  on  joyful  wing  cleaving  the  skies. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  pass  along  the  highway 
at  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  a  fine  mid- 
summer's day  without  seeing  or  hearing  the  yellow- 
bird  as  he  flits  chirping  along  overhead. 

But  I  must  also  introduce  another  rendering  of 
the   yellowbird's   song,  as 
it  is  given  by  Mr.  Simeon    i  ~V 


V<* 


_ 
Pease   Cheney.      Here  it    KM/     I      \. 

~ 


s: 

Mr.  Cheney  also  says  that  a  very  similar  descrip- 
tion of  this  bird's  song  he  had  seen  from  the  pen  of 
Mr.  Burroughs.  What  I  wish  particularly  to  empha- 
size in  this  matter  of  bird  singing  is  the  fact  that  it 
is  perfectly  possible  by  means  of  musical  signs  to 
identify  the  bird's  song  beyond  a  shadow  of  doubt,  f 

*  It  is  from  one  of  a  number  of  perfectly  delightful  articles  on 
bird  music,  by  Mr.  Simeon  Pease  Cheney.  I  advise  every  one 
who  loves  birds  to  read  them.  See  the  Century  Magazine  for 
June,  1889. 

f  My  own  experience  eight  years  ago  will  prove  this.     Upon 


THE  LURGAN  ROAD, 
DELAWARE  VALLEY, 
BUCK'S  CO.,  PA. 

THE   YELLOWBIRD. 


THE   LITTLE  SONGSTERS.  HI 

It  is  somewhat  disappointing  not  to  find  in  Wil- 
son's American  Ornithology  any  adequate  or  thor- 
oughly reliable  description  of  the  songs  of  birds. 
The  great  ornithologist  did  not  know  that  both  the 
hermit  and  the  tawny  thrush  are  great  vocalists. 
Even  Elliot  Coues  has  very  little  to  say  about  their 
songs. 

Wilson  speaks  of  the  yellowbird' s  song  as  weak- 
ly resembling  that  of  the  English  goldfinch ;  he  also 
says  that  at  sunrise,  when  great  numbers  of  yellow- 
birds  assemble  on  the  same  tree  to  bask  and  dress 
themselves,  "the  confused  mingling  of  their  notes 
forms  a  kind  of  harmony  not  at  all  unpleasant." 
This  is  exactly  the  character  of  bird  music  which, 
as  I  have  pointed  out,  is  inadequately  expressed  by 
notes.  But  if  I  should  attempt  to  write  out  this 
morning  song  it  would  run  somewhat  thus : 


The  first  four  notes  are  simply  two  introductory 
" cheeps"  and  the  rest  are  very  canarylike. 

Every   one   ought   to    know   the    yellowbird,  or 

glancing  over  the  articles  on  bird  music,  by  Mr.  Cheney,  in  the 
Century,  1  instantly  recognized  among  his  musical  interpretations 
the  songs  of  the  hermit  thrush,  Wilson's  thrush,  scarlet  tanager, 
and  yellowbird. 


112    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

goldfinch  (Spinus  tristis),  by  sight.  The  top  of  its 
head,  its  wings,  and  tail  are  black ;  all  the  rest  of  the 
body  is  canary -yellow  except  beneath,  where  it  is 
whitish  ;  the  bill  and  legs  are  cinnamon-brown.  This 
is  the  costume  of  the  male  bird  during  the  summer ; 
in  winter  the  yellow  assumes  an  olive  tinge,  more 
nearly  like  the  dull  hues  of  the  female.  These 
birds  build  a  nest  pretty  well  up  among  the  twigs  of 
the  gray  birch,  the  red  cherry,  or  the  wild  apple  ;  in 
it  are  laid  four  or  five  dull-white  eggs,  daintily 
speckled  brown.  If  one  wishes  to  hear  the  yellow- 
bird's  song  at  its  best  he  must  rise  at  about  half  past 
four  on  a  clear  June  morning  ;  at  this  hour  the  spar- 
rows, finches,  robins,  and  meadow  larks  are  all  sing- 
ing at  once — a  regular  medley  of  musical  tones  with 
never  a  pause  between !  I  will  not  attempt  the  im- 
possible task  of  writing  out  this  matutinal  sym- 
phony, but  a  good  title  of  it  in  plain  English  has 
been  given  to  us  by  Kobert  Louis  Stevenson  in  his 
Child's  Garden  of  Yerses : 

Ain't  you  'shamed,  you  sleepy-head ! 
The  greatest  singers,  by  far  (at  least  of  New 
England),  are  the  sparrows.  But  there  are  so  many 
different  species  that  I  can  only  describe  two  or 
three  which  seem  to  be  the  commonest.  Chief 
among  these  is  the  song  sparrow  (Melospiza  fas- 
data).  He  is  mainly  responsible  for  the  great  dis- 


THE  LITTLE  SONGSTERS. 


113 


tnrbance  of  public  peace  at  sunrise.  Wilson  calls 
him  the  earliest,  sweetest,  and  most  lasting  songster 
of  all,  and  he  is  quite  correct  in  this  estimate  if 
only  the  silvery  voiced  thrushes  are  not  included. 
He  is  a  little  longer  or  slimmer  than  the  English 
sparrow,  but  browner  in  color,  and  pretty 
well  flecked  over  the  breast  and  sides  with 
pointed  spots  of  dark  brown.  The  ashen 
color  about  eye  and  chin  are  not 
nearly  so  pronounced  in  this  species 
as  it  is  on  the  chipping  sparrow 
and  the  tree  sparrow.  He  is 
also  a  larger  and  a  browner  bird 
than  the  field  sparrow,  and  as 
the  neck  and 
whole  breast  of 
the  swamp  spar- 
row are  ash-col- 
or he  bears  only 
slight  resem- 
blance to  this 


bird. 


Song  Sparrow. 


He  sings  all  summer  long  and  well  on  into  the 
fall,  and  we  may  see  him  at  almost  any  hour  of  the 
day  or  evening  perched  on  the  topmost  twig  of  a  tree 
pouring  forth  his  music  with  all  the  variety  and  execu- 
tion of  a  canary.  He  also  has  .a  happy  fashion  of  sing- 


114    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

ing  to  himself — sotto  voce — as  he  flits  among  the 
shrubbery  near  the  ground  searching  for  seeds.  His 
music  is  spontaneous  and  variable,  and  he  is  enti- 
tled to  be  called  the  musician  par  excellence  of  the 
meadow.  Many  of  his  notes,  though,  are  similar  to 
those  of  the  yellowbird  and  the  indigo  bird,  but  the 
scope  of  his  voice  is  greater  than  either  of  these  two 
sweet  singers ;  the  following  is  a  characteristic  ex- 
ample : 


Zwe-  -zwe,  -zwePhil-il-il  tr-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ee  •  • 

It  will  be  noticed  that  his  song  generally  ends  with  a 
trill,  but  not  always,  for  1  have  heard  him  in  the 
morning  sing  thus : 

J. 


Phil-il  •//  t-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ce. 


-  ge& 


Another  song  which  I  heard  while  wandering  through 
the  Arnold  arboretum,  on  March  22d  last,  ran  in 
this  wise : 


MUSKINGUM   DRIVE, 
MARIETTA, 
WASHINGTON   CO., 
OHIO. 


THE   CHIPPING 
SPARROW. 


THE  LITTLE  SONGSTERS.  115 

The  song  sparrows  build  their  nests  on  the 
ground  or  near  it  in  a  low  dense  bush.  In  the  nest 
there  are  usually  four  or  five  little  white  eggs,  some- 
times of  a  blue -gray  tone,  plentifully  freckled  with 
rusty -red  spots ;  the  birds  often  raise  more  than  one 
brood  in  a  season.  The  plumage  of  the  female  is 
scarcely  different  from  that  of  the  male. 

As  for  the  pert,  little  chipping  sparrow  (Spizella 
socialis\  I  believe  he  commonly  lives  on  the  high- 
way, and  not  very  far,  either,  from  some  habitation. 
He  is,  in  truth,  a  sociable  little  creature  who  will 
thankfully  pick  up  as  many  crumbs  as  are  spread  for 
him.  I  gave  a  little  fellow  his  choice  one  morning  of 
some  fat  young  cut  worms  and  bits  of  dry  bread.  He 
chose  the  latter  and  spurned  the  former,  much  to  my 
surprise,  although  from  my  own  point  of  view  the 
worms  were  repulsive ;  but  between  worms  and  crumbs 
one  would  naturally  think  the  bird's  choice  would  fall 
on  the  former. 

The  chipping  sparrow,  I  think,  has  no  musical 
voice ;  the  best  he  can  do  in  the  way  of  singing  is  to 
utter  a  monotonous  "chip,"  and  a  continuous,  cres- 
cendo ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-chip.  But  he 
is  a  familiar  character,  often  seen  flitting  along  the 
roadside  among  the  stalks  of  goldenrod  in  summer 
time,  and,  later  on  in  the  season,  helping  himself  to 
the  seeds  of  the  hardback  (Spiraea  tomentosa).  He 


116    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


is  strongly  marked  about  the  head  and  wings  with 
chestnut-brown  and  a  blackish  brown;  above  and 
beneath  his  eye  are  long  lines  of  ashen-gray,  and 
his  breast  is  also  this  color.  The  female  is  similarly 
but  less  darkly  colored  ;  she  lays  four 
or  five  light-blue  eggs.  The  nest  is 
usually  built  in  the  bushes  beside 
some  brook  that  passes  beneath  the 
road. 

The  yellow  -  winged  sparrow  has 
been  described  in  the  foregoing 
chapter  on  Meadow  Singers. 
The  field  sparrow  (Spizella  pu- 
silla)  is  another  small  character 
with  a  red-brown  head,  a  bit  gray 
over  the  eye,  brown  back,  streaked 
black,  edged  with  gray,  and  an 
ocher-colored  breast ;  the  bill  is  reddish  light  brown. 
He  has  a  good  loud  voice  of  his  own,  and  I  am  by 
no  means  sure  that  he  ever  subsides  to  the  cricket- 
like  chirrup  such  as  Wilson  describes.  His  song  is 
restricted  to  perhaps  three  tones,  but  these  are  dis- 
tinctly musical : 


Field  Spairow. 


THE  LITTLE  SONGSTERS.  H7 

The  first  three  notes  are  given  with  deliberation,  then 
he  hurries  on  and  finishes  with  a  loud  canary-like, 
chirruping  trill.  Mr.  Minot  speaks  of  his  "exquis- 
itely modulated  whistles,"  but  this  is  not  a  strictly 
accurate  description,  for  the  first  three  notes  are  alike, 
and  are  given  with  unmistakable  accent  and  without 
the  slightest  modulation.*  It  is  amusing  to  watch  the 
little  bird  as  he  stands  on  the  low,  projecting  bough 
of  a  yellow  birch  and  repeats  his  simple  song  over 
and  over  again  at  intervals  of  about  twelve  seconds 
(it  only  occupies  five).  Each  time  he  sings  he  tips 
his  head  backward  and  a  trifle  sideways,  and  throws 
his  voice  out  with  all  his  might,  ending  in  an  almost 
imperceptible,  high  grace  note  on  which  he  shuts  his 
bill  very  unceremoniously ;  then,  perhaps,  he  shifts  his 
position  a  trifle,  scrapes  his  bill  on  the  branchlet,  which, 
I  presume,  is  equivalent  to  clearing  his  throat,  and 
proceeds  as  before.  In  another  instant  he  is  two 
hundred  yards  away,  down  in  the  meadow  border, 
singing  the  same  song  again.f 

*  I  hardly  agree  with  Mr.  Cheney,  however,  that  this  sparrow's 
song  is  confined  to  a  minor  third ;  but  most  likely  all  field  spar- 
rows do  not  sing  alike. 

f  His  song  is  not  -invariably  like  that  which  I  have  given ; 
sometimes  he  indulges  in'  a  simple  short  trill.  I  chose  the  par- 
ticular song  recorded,  because  it  coincided  to  a  remarkable  de- 
gree with  one  written  by  Mr.  Cheney;  which  fact  is  conclusive 
evidence  that  Spizella  pusilla  was  the  bird  undoubtedly  heard  in 
both  instances. 


118    FAMILIAR  FEATURES   OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

The  field  sparrow's  nest  is  usually  on  the  ground ; 
it  is  built  of  coarse  grasses,  rootlets,  and  bits  of  weed 
stalks.  The  eggs  (from  three  to  four)  are  white 
marked  with  red-brown  specks. 

A  really  tame  bird,  and  one  which  is  a  trifle 
troublesome  about  a  cottage  in  the  woods,  is  the 
Phoebe,  sometimes  called  pewit  or  pewee  (Sayornis 
Phoebe).  This  little  creature  sometimes  prefers  to 
build  her  nest  under  the  eaves  of  my  piazza  or  wood- 
shed, and  there  is  much  ado  to  protect  the  young 
from  the  enemy,  a  pet  Manx  cat.  But  one  fine  morn- 
ing Mr.  Manx  succeeded  in  passing  an  extemporized 
barricade  and  devoured  the  whole  family — not  a  small 
matter,  as  Mrs.  Phoebe  usually  raises  five  little  ones. 

The  Phoebe  generally  builds  her  nest  under  the 
span  of  some  bridge,  using  mud,  sticks,  hairs,  bits 
of  rag,  or,  in  fact,  anything  convenient,  no  matter 
what  its  nature ;  in  the  nest  we  will  probably  find  five 
white  eggs  sparingly  dotted  on  the  larger  ends  with 
rusty-red.  I  have  drawn  with  the  phcebe  that  pic- 
turesque bridge  crossing  the  Clinton  River,  Pontiac, 
Mich. 

I  can  not  say  that  the  bird  is  a  pretty  one,  but  it 
is  at  least  softly  colored.  The  head,  which  is  some- 
what crested,  is  black;  the  back  is  rusty -black,  and 
the  breast  is  sooty- white — almost  gray.  The.  two 
colors  meet  on  a  line  at  the  eye,  giving  the  bird  a 


CLINTON    RIVER, 
PONTIAC,   OAKLAND   CO., 
MICH. 

PHOEBE   BIRD. 


THE  LITTLE  SONGSTERS.  119 

fine-appearing,  characteristic  head.  As  the  male  bird 
sits  on  a  branch  of  the  apple  tree  near  the  nest  he 
sings  his  one  song  of  only  two 

xl  Q     8VA. 

notes,  thus  :  i  / 

Sometimes  he  hiccoughs  in  the     lW- 


m 


finale,    thus:    «  Phfrhwk-le."  Ph<*-be. 

But  the  song  is  quite  monotonous  and  sounds  re- 
markably like  some  thin,  piping  voice  calling  for 
"Phoebe."  In  size  the  bird  is  a  trifle  larger  than 
the  song  sparrow.  He  holds  a  nearly  upright  posi- 
tion as  he  sits  on  a  twig,  and  now  and  then  sud- 
denly darts  after  some  passing  insect,  but  returns 
immediately  to  resume  his  song.  He  cocks  his  head 
this  way  and  that  as  he  sits  and  sings,  evidently 
keeping  a  sharp  lookout  for  stray  millers,  flies,  and 
bees. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

BIEDS    WITH    UNMUSICAL    VOICES. 

THERE  are  quite  a  number  of  birds  whose  un- 
musical voices  are  frequently  heard  along  the  high- 
way, and  whose  emphatic  and  curiously  expressive 
notes  are  nearly  as  interesting  as  the  songs  of  more 
skillful  singers. 

It  is  not  perfectly  just,  however,  to  use  the  term 
unmusical  in  connection  with  any  of  the  voices  of 
Nature,  but  I  employ  the  word  here  in  a  comparative 
sense.  An  acute  ear  will  detect  the  musical  quality 
in  every  sound ;  the  unmusical  ear  is  simply  more  or 
less  tone-deaf.  He  who  sings  so  simple  a  melody  as 
My  Country  'tis  of  thee,  and  "flats"  without 
knowing  it,  lacks  the  ability  to  measure  the  intervals 
between  the  tones ;  he  could  never  make  a  pianoforte 
tuner !  How  much  less,  then,  can  we  expect  him  to 
discover  the  distinct  musical  fifth  in  the  distant  bel- 
low of  a  cow  on  the  hillside :  * 

*  Not  all  cows  bellow  thus,  but  a  great  many  come  exceedingly 
close  to  this  description. 

120 


BIRDS  WITH  UNMUSICAL  VOICES. 


121 


In  any  sound  of  whatever 
kind  which  is  not  a  harsh  noise, 
there  is  a  keynote  (tone).  Niag- 
ara Falls  is  no  exception  to  the 
rule ;  to  my  ear  it  distinctly 
hums  a  profound  organ  note. 
But  according  to  atmospheric  conditions  and  one's 
relative  position  to  the  falls,  the  organ  tone  is  higher 
or  lower. 

We  can  not  pass  a  barn  yard  without  hearing  the 
unmusical  cackle  of  the  hen ;  yet  a  little  careful 
attention  will  perhaps  bring  with  it  the  knowledge 
that  the  racket  is  not  simply  a  noise  after  all.  This 
is  what  I  make  of  it : 


Cut  cut-cut-cut.  cut-cut-cut  -out  -cut-  cut-rut-cut  ca  dar.  Cut  etc. 


Not  even  the  twitting  chatter  of  the  barn  swallow 
is  really  unmusical,  and  the  night  song  of  a  million 
crickets  is  a  lullaby  of  two  soothing  notes,*  im- 
mensely musical  in  effect. 

It  is  the  case,  then,  that  there  are  unmusical  birds, 
if  we  consider  the  matter  strictly  in  the  light  of  com- 


*  See  Chapter  VI,  Meado-y  Singers. 


122    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

parison.  The  hermit  thrush  is  a  musician,  but  the 
little  chipping  sparrow  has  no  music  in  his  soul 
beyond  what  we  may  discover  in  his  lisping  chip. 
Some  of  the  birds  have  most  remarkably  vigorous 
voices,  which,  musical  or  unmusical,  we  are  pretty 
sure  to  hear  at  no  very  great  distance  from  the 
highway. 

The  first  of  these  is  the  golden-crowned  thrush 
(not   a    thrush   at    all   but    a   warbler),  or   ovenbird 
(Seiurus    aurocapillus).      He   is    about   six 
inches  long.     His  back  is  brown-olive,  ]iis 
crowrn  subdued  golden  -  orange   edged 
by  black    stripes,   his    breast    and 
sides   are   streaked   with   black, 
and  his  under  parts  are  dull 
white. 

The   golden  -  crowned 
thrush   has  an   em- 

Golden-crowned  Thrush.  phatic      and      SOine. 

what          hysterical 

voice,  which  slightly  resembles  the  loud  swishing 
sound  oj  a  stout  whip  as  it  is  lashed  back  and  forth. 
What  he  says  seems  to  be : 

"Queecher,    Queecher,    QUEECHER,    QUEECHER,    QUEECHER, 
QUEECHEK." 

But  although  these  notes  are  far  from  musical,  they 


BIRDS  WITH  UNMUSICAL  VOICES.  123 

possess  a  strong  whistlelike  quality  which  is  at  least 
startling  and  amusing.* 

Burrough's  interpretation  of  this  bird's  language 
is  "  Teacher,  teacher"  etc.,  crescendo,  fortissimo. 
This  loud-voiced  golden-crowned  thrush  has  also  a 
tine  melodic  warble  which  he  indulges  in  about  the 
time  of  sunset  during  the  nesting  season ;  but  his 
summer  note,  the  only  one  I  know,  is  the  far  more 
common  queecher. 

The  nest  is  usually  built  on  the  ground  m  the 
woods ;  in  it  one  may  find  from  three  to  four  white 
eggs  marked  with  rust-color  and  brown  on  the  larger 
ends. 

The  next  bird  with  an  unmusical  note  is  the 
Maryland  yellowthroat  (Geothlypis  trichas).  This 
modest  little  creature  is  scarcely  more  than  five  inches 
long.  His  back,  wings,  and  tail  are  dull  olive-green ; 
over  the  forehead  and  about  the  eyes  is  a  broad  band 
of  slate-black  edged  above  by  another  band  of  white ; 
the  throat  and  breast  are  yellow  and  the  legs  silver- 
white. 

The  nest  f  is  built  in  some  secluded  retreat  among 

*  I  can  not  with  satisfaction  locate  the  tone ;  I  should  say  it 
was  a  presto  slur  back  and  forth  between  the  third  E  above  and 
the  fourth  B  above  middle  C. 

f  The  nest  is  rarely  found :  but  Burroughs  describes  his  good 
fortune  in  discovering  it  one  day  about  six  inches  from  the 
ground,  in  a  bunch  of  ferns.  It  was  a  massive  nest  built  of  the 


124:    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Maryland  Yellowthroat. 


the  briers,  dead  leaves,  and  grass,  on  or  very  near  the 
ground ;  in  it  the  little  bird  lays  from  three  to  five 
tiny,  semitranslucent,  buff-white  eggs  speckled  with 

reddish  brown. 

Among  the  moun- 
tain maples  beside  the 
road,  and  often  through 
the  alder  thickets  which 
border  the  brook,  the 
yellowthroat  may  be 
seen  flitting  here  and 
there,  and  occasionally 
stopping  to  inquire  — 
"Which  is  it?  Which  is  it?  Which  is  it?"  in  a 
shrill,  piping  voice ;  or  frequently  he  seems  to  say 
"  TF^-chi-chi-chee.  TF^-chi-chi-chee.  TF<?-chi-chi- 
ehee."  * 

The  Maryland  yellowthroat  is  a  regular  visitor 
of  Campton,  N.  H.  Throughout  the  glad  months 
of  May  and  June  he  is  perpetually  dodging  in  and 
out  among  the  shrubbery  of  the  beautiful  highway 
that  leads  northward  to  the  Franconia  Notch,  and 

stalks  and  leaves  of  dried  grass,  and  lined  with  fine,  dark-brown 
roots. 

*  Frank  M.  Chapman,  in  the  Handbook  of  Birds,  says :  "  The 
birds  near  New  York  city  seem  to  me  to  say, '  I  beseech  you,  I 
beseech  you,  I  beseech  you,'  though,  to  be  sure,  the  tone  is  far 
from  pleading." 


HURON   RIVER, 
NEAR   ANN    ARBOR, 
WASHTENAW   CO., 
MICH. 

THE   CHICKADEE. 


BIRDS  WITH  UNMUSICAL  VOICES.  125 

continuously  pressing  the  passers-by  with  his  vigor- 
ous questioning. 

Another  unmusical  character,  and  a  quite  common 
one,  is  the  black-capped  titmouse,  or  chickadee  (Parus 
atricapillus).  This  bird  is  a  little  over  five  inches 
long.  His  head  is  black  and  the  rest  of  his  body  is 
in  effect  a  pretty  even  gray ;  beneath  and  behind  his 
eye  is  a  well-marked,  wedge  -  shaped  gray  -  white 
band ;  the  throat  is  black  and  the  breast  white- 
gray  ;  the  wings  and  tail  are  blackish  but  gray- 
edged. 

The  titmouse  chooses  for  a  nest  some  hole  in  a 
tree,  and  Wilson  says  the  bird  not  infrequently  is 
satisfied  with  the  deserted  retreat  of  a  squirrel  or  a 
woodpecker.  According  to  my  own  observations 
the  titmice  sometimes  return  to  their  own  previous 
home,  and  continue  housekeeping  again  as  though 
they  had  never  been  away.  For  two  years  past 
apparently  the  same  pair  of  birds  have  come  back 
to  the  old  home  in  an  apple  tree  behind  my  cottage. 
The  female  lays  five  or  six  white  eggs  speckled  with 

brown-red. 

• 

These  birds  are  characteristically  vivacious.  They 
are  veritable  little  acrobats,  forever  tumbling  about 
the  small  twigs  of  the  orchard  trees,  now  upside  down 
and  again  letting  go  their  hold  to  turn  (it  always 
looks  that  way)  a  double  back  somersault  in  the 


126    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

air!  Hardly  is  this  performance  ended  when  two 
twittering  individuals  engage  in  a  momentary  "  scrap," 
and  away  they  flit  to  a  neighboring  tree.  Then  a 
sprightly,  rasping  little  voice  is  heard,  saying : 
"  Chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee  !  Chick- a-dee-dee-dee  !  " 
The  "  chick  "  is  a  squeaky  whistle,  and  the  "  dee-dee " 
is  a  rasping,  flat  note  like  that  of  the  blue  jay.  To 
my  ear  it  has  a  nasal  quality.  I  have  drawn  this 
bird  in  one  of  his  characteristic  positions.  He  fre- 
quents the  river  borders  where  the  trees  and  bushes 
bend  over  the  water,  so  I  have  sketched  with  him 
a  bit  of  the  pretty  Huron  Kiver,  near  Ann  Arbor, 
Mich.,  where  he  can  frequently  be  seen  flitting  in 
and  out  among  the  shrubbery. 

A  still  more  familiar  bird,  whose  nest  is  pretty 
sure  to  be  among  the  alders  or  the  elder- berry  bushes, 
not  far  from  the  highway,  is  the  catbird  (Galeoscoptes 
Carolinensis\  a  not  very  distant  relative  of  the 
musical  thrush.  He  is  almost  a  uniform  slate-gray, 
his  crown  and  tail  being  but  a  trifle  blacker ;  under 
his  tail  and  wings  is  a  dark  ruddy  color.  The  nest 
will  be  found  firmly  fixed  in  the  crotch  of  an  elder- 
berry bush,  maybe,  and  in  it  we  will  see  from  three 
to  five  deep  blue-green  eggs  without  spots.  Near  by 
the  female  is  restlessly  bobbing  in  and  out  among  the 
foliage,  flirting  her  tail  and  inviting  us  to  move  on. 
I  recollect  from  early  boyhood  just  such  a  nest,  situ- 


BIRDS  WITH  UNMUSICAL  VOICES.  127 

ated  exactly  this  way  in  a  certain  wooded  lot  near 
the  road  which  led  down  to  one  of  the  most  beauti- 
ful sheets  of  water  in  Putnam  County,  N".  Y.  —  Lake 
Mahopac. 

We  are  aware  of  the  proximity  of  a  catbird  by 
the  sudden  note  of  uneasiness  which  we  hear.  The 
sound  is  certainly  very  catlike,  but  harsh  and  hoarse  ! 
The  catbird's  notes  are  devoid  of  sonorous  quality; 
one  is  a  snappy  trut-tut-tut-tut-tut^  and  another  is 
a  flat  and  nasal  inew  which  starts  loud  and  suddenly 
and  finishes  with  a  diminuendo,  thus  : 

sf.  ............  dim. 

.    a- 
«B—  ja~    a~a-aa."* 

However  similar  this  may  be  to  the  cat's  mee-ow,  I  do 
not  think  it  is  nearly  as  much  like  it  as  the  screech  of 
the  peacock,  who  really  does  say 


"  Mee-  ow-w-w  » 

with  unmistakable  distinctness,  and  double  fortissimo 
too  !  Truth  to  tell,  the  peacock  can  out-yowl  the  cat 
on  all  occasions. 

The  catbird,  however,  is  not  unmusical  ;  his  mew 
is  perhaps  his  only  rasping  note,  for  when  he  chooses 
to  sing  at  the  time  of  nesting,  more  particularly  in 

*  The  a  as  in  jasper. 


128    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

the  early  morning,  his  notes  are  extremely  varied  and 
expressive.     Here  arc  some  of  them : 


,0  \ ' — Lje — ie_! — L_J — — ! *    ^  r    '       i  . 

V/M  V  f     '     ' 

5-0  We-c/      spink-ink-wheo-e-ah---gee-z-z-z-z-Z  wKir-r 

But  whether  he  is  nearly  related  to  the  thrushes 
or  not,  the  fact  remains  that  his  songs  are  neither 
of  silver  nor  of  gold ;  and,  figuratively  speaking, 
these  precious  metals  are  melted  into  music  as  soon 
as  the  hermit  and  the  Wilson  thrushes  open  their 
throats ! 

This  reminds  me  of  the  fact  that  the  voices  of 
birds  are  more  varied  and  musical  than  those  of  any 

other  creatures  in  the  world. 

r\ 

Even  the  rooster  has  a  tune- 
ful crow— 

The  cat  tribe  roars  and  mews 
and  hisses  ;   that  is  all.     But 

the  birds ! — is   there  any  end 

i 

to  their  powers  of  vocaliza- 
tion ?  They  can  chirrup,  chip,  caw,  whip-poor-will, 
whistle,  chick-a-dee,  hoot,  howl,  cackle,  crow,  gobble, 
quack,  drum,  cluck,  chirp  like  crickets,  mew  like 
cats,  talk  like  human  beings,  cry  like  babies,  squeak 
like  cart  wheels  ;  in  fine,  beyond  their  own  exten- 
sive repertoire  of  musical  and  unmusical  sounds,  they 


r  >.        t»  t     r.  tr 


Cock-  a-doo-dle  do. 

y* 


s*j 


BIRDS  WITH  UNMUSICAL  VOICES. 


129 


can  (many  of   them)  imitate   all  creation  from  the 
voice  of  man  down  to  a  creaking  barn  door ! 

Three  of  the  strangest  of  the  bird  voices  (they  are 
also  very  familiar  ones)  are  those  of  the  whip-poor- 


Whip-poor-will. 

will,  night  hawk,  and  screech  owl.  The  iirst  every 
one  recognizes,  and  the  uncanny  tones  of  the  last 
probably  every  one  knows  without  being  able  to  tell 
what  kind  of  a  creature  they  belong  to.  Both  of 
these  birds  are,  in  a  measure,  musical,  although  it 
will  be  difficult  for  me  to  represent  by  musical  signs 
the  true  character  of  their  singing.  As  every  one,  I 
suppose,  can  recall  the  exact  intonation  of'  the  whip- 
poor-will's  few  notes,  I  imagine  it  will  be  interesting 
to  see  how  they  can  be  musically  rendered  : 


4 


& 


3: 


» 


fi 


kuk         I   £  /fa*  I   U  M 

Whip-poor-will         Whip-poor-will  Whip-poor-will 


The  "  kuk "  we  can  only  hear  if  we  are  within 
10 


130    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF   THE   ROADSIDE. 

twenty  yards  or  so  of  the  bird ;  it  sounds  as  though 
in  sucking  in  his  breath  for  the  next  "  whip  "  he 
snapped  his  beak  together.  This  somewhat  melan- 
choly vesper  song  begins  at  sundown  and  continues, 
less  and  less  frequently,  well  on  into  the  night.  The 
whip-poor-will  (Antrostomus  vociferus)  is  a  large 
bird,  perhaps  ten  inches  long.  About  his  bill  are 
long,  stiff,  curved  hairs.  His  colors  are  a  variety  of 
tawny,  light,  and  dark  browns ;  on  the  breast  is  a 
narrow  band  of  white.  In  this  respect  his  coloring 
is  exactly  like  that  of  a  toad,  or  perhaps  the  large 
brown  branch  of  a  tree  on  which  he  sits  in  a  crouch- 
ing attitude,  with  his  wings  slightly  spread  and  his 
body  jerking  violently  with  every  "  whip." 

The  bird  is  not  often  seen,  but  he  is  heard  every- 
where, and  one  can  locate  him  by  the  sound  of  his 
voice,  now  on  the  wood  pile,*  then  on  the  fence,  next 
in  the  copse  beside  the  road,  and  again  in  the  bushes 
bordering  the  garden.  Before  one  knows  it  he  is 
gone  ;  he  flies  low  and  silently,  and  sails  along  until 
he  reaches,  some  thirty  yards  away,  a  convenient 

*  I  think  it  is  Dr.  Abbott  who  has  intimated  that  the  wood 
pile  has  of  late  years  gone  out  of  fashion  as  a  perch  for  the  whip- 
poor-will.  That  may  be  the  case  in  civilized  New  Jersey ;  but 
should  any  one  come  up  into  the  wilds  of  New  Hampshire  and 
sit  on  an  obscure  corner  of  my  wood  pile  at  dusk,  I  think  he 
will  be  convinced  that  the  whip-poor-will  has  not  given  up  his 
old  habit ! 


BIRDS  WITH  UNMUSICAL  VOICES.  131 

bough,  upon  which  he  settles  and  immediately  begins 
his  song  again. 

The  whip-poor-will  does  not  build  a  nest,  but 
selects  some  very  secluded  spot  in  the  woods,  where, 
among  the  brush,  dry  leaves,  and  old  logs,  she  usually 
lays  two  eggs  resembling  those  of  the  night  hawk,  of 
a  dull  gray- white  color  spotted  plentifully  with  olive- 
brown.  It  is  a  common  but  curious  practice  among 
some  birds  not  to  build  nests,  but  either  to  depend 
upon  those  of  other  birds  or  to  take  all  the  chances  of 
harm  to  their  offspring  by  choosing  a  merely  seques- 
tered spot  on  the  ground. 

The  next  strange-voiced  bird  is  the  night  hawk 
(CJiordeiles  Virginianus).  A  strange-looking  crea- 
ture (not  a  true  hawk  at  all),  with  a  very  small  bill 
and  a  very  large  mouth,  closely  resembling  the  whip- 
poor-will,  but  far  more  beautifully  marked.  The 
night  hawk  is  about  ten  inches  long  ;  around  his  eyes 
is  a  buffish  brown  patch  bounded  below  with  a  tri- 
angular patch  of  dull  white,  which  extends  beneath 
the  bill ;  the  wings  and  tail  are  blackish  brown  with 
sharply  denned  bands  of  dull  white  ;  the  other  parts 
are  varied  tones  of  spotted  light  brown. 

The  female  has  no  band  of  white  about  the 
throat,  and  is  very  moderately  marked  on  wings  and 
tail.  She  lays  two  eggs  of  a  gray-white  tone, 
speckled  all  over  with  olive-brown,  in  some  secluded 


132    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

spot  by  the  edge  of  the  wood ;  the  eggs  so  closely 
resemble  the  general  color-effect  of  dried  leaves, 
stones,  and  brown  ground  that  they  are  hard  to  dis- 
cover. Of  course  the  birds  build  no  nests.  It  is  a 
peculiarity  of  the  night  hawk  that  by  reason  of  the 
short  and  slender  form  of  his  legs  and  feet,  which  are 
in  no  wise  adapted  to  grasp  a  limb  crosswise  with  any 
firmness,  he  sits  on  the  branch  lengthwise.  This  is 
also  the  case  with  the  whip-poor-will ;  I  have  never 
seen  either  bird  in  any  other  position  on  fence  rail  or 
tree. 

About  the  twilight  hour  the  performances  of  the 
night  hawk  on  the  wing  are  most  extraordinary  ;  it  is 
not  possible  for  one  to  miss  seeing  them  in  summer 
time,  while  passing  along  the  highway  just  after  sun- 
set. Far  above  valley  and  hill  he  circles,  a  small 
bird  in  appearance  (although  in  reality  he  measures 
twenty-three  inches  across  with  his  wings  spread). 
Slowly  and  quietly  he  continues  an  erratic  flight, 
with  apparently  no  object  in  view  except  that  of 
enjoying  a  little  exercise,  and  uttering  the  while  his 
shrill  whistled  "geep,  geep,  geep"  (not  unlike  the 
squeaking  of  a  cart  wheel).  Suddenly  we  see  him 
pitch  over  head  foremost  and  fall  precipitately  sev- 
enty or  eighty  feet  as  though  shot ;  but  he  recovers 
himself  immediately  and  rises  to  greater  heights. 
Hardly  is  the  recovery  complete,  however,  before  a 


BIRDS  WITH  UNMUSICAL  VOICES. 


133 


strange  whirr-r-r-r-rrr  reaches  our  ears,  sounding 
perhaps  like  the  very  distant  bellow  of  a  cow  for- 
saken on  some  lonely  hillside.  The  sound  has  a 
sonorous  quality  which  it  is  hard  to  describe.  I 
have  heard  a  fractious  rolling  door 
make  just  such  a  noise,  and  in  a 
sudden  rise  from  the  ground  the 
pigeon  makes  a  weaker  but  simi- 
lar one  by  the  rapid  beating  of 
the  air  with  his  wings.*  Wil- 
son says  the  same  sound  may 
be  produced  by  blowing  strong- 
ly into  the  bunghole  of  an 
empty  hogshead,  but  he  adds 
that  the  night  hawk  doubtlessly 
makes  this  noise  by  the  sud- 
den expansion  of  his  capacious 
mouth  while  he  passes  through 
the  air !  (What  an  extraordinary  theory !)  I  am 
sure  that  the  rapid  beating  of  the  bird's  wings  to  re- 
cover himself  after  his  swift  fall  is  the  most  satisfac- 
tory explanation  of  the  mysterious  "  whirr-r-r-r-rrr."  f 

*  I  must  not  omit  to  say,  too,  that  the  partridge,  at  the  end  of 
his  "  drumming,"  also  whirrs. 

f  This  is  Audubon's  theory.  But  I  do  not  entertain  the  slight- 
est doubt  about  the  matter.  The  sound  reaches  the  ear  just  after 
the  recovery,  and  this  is  of  itself  an  all-sufficient  proof  that  the 
wings  produce  it ;  nevertheless  it  is  said  that  the  European  goat- 


The  Night  Hawk's 
tumble. 


FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

The  last  strange-voiced  creature  is  the  oddest  of 
all ;  it  is  the  screech  owl  (Megascops  asio\  a  blood- 
thirsty little  villain,  scarcely  eight  inches  tall  as  he  sits 
on  a  bough  ;  nevertheless  he  sings.  His  colors  are 
brown  and  gray,  and  they  are  pretty  well  mixed.  In 
some  specimens  which  I  have  seen  the  coloring  is 
decidedly  ruddy ;  but  this  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
as  the  birds  are  extremely  variable  in  the  general 
tone  of  their  plumage.  The  screech  owl  makes  her 
nest  in  the  hollow  trunk  of  a  tree ;  it  is,  of  course,  a 
very  slight  affair,  of  much  the  same  character  as  a 
hen's  nest,  with  bits  of  grass,  feathers,  shreds  of  bark, 
and  so  forth,  in  its  make  up.  The  eggs  are  white, 
clean,  and  nearly  round  in  form  ;  there  are  from 
three  to  five  in  a  nest. 

I  said  the  owl  sang ;  but  I  must  admit  that  the 
song  is  not  altogether  musical,  for  it  has  yet  another 
far  more  ascendant  quality.  There  is  something 
eerie  about  its  cadence,  something  depressing  about 
its  unearthly  sadness,  which  on  a  dark  night  makes 
one's  flesh  creep  !  We  might  take  it  for  the  despair- 
ing, quavering  voice  of  a  lost  and  wandering  spirit, 
or  the  distant  ghostly  cheers  of  Henrick  Hudson's 

sucker  utters  the  hollow  whirr  when  perched  and  while  holding 
his  head  downward.  I  doubt  it,  though.  Frank  M.  Chapman,  I 
am  glad  to  say,  considers  that  the  night  hawk's  whirr  is  produced 
by  the  passage  of  air  through  the  bird's  primaries,  i.  e.,  larger  wing 
feathers. 


DIXVILLE    NOTCH, 

COOS  CO  , 

NEW   HAMPSHIRE 

THE   SCREECH   OWL. 


BIRDS  WITH  UNMUSICAL  VOICES.  135 

crew  up  in  the  mountain,  when  some  one  of  their 
number  has  made  a  "  ten  strike." 

The  song  of  the  screech  owl  may  be  musical  or 
not,  that  is  a  matter  of  opinion ;  but  that  it  is  a  great 
stimulant  to  the  imagination  there  can  be  no  possi- 
ble shadow  of  doubt !  We  perhaps  think  of  all  man- 
ner of  blood-curdling  things  which  may  be  happen- 
ing, and  the  suggestive  voice  fits  the  case  exactly ; 
in  fact,  we  might  find  ourselves  wondering  why  we 
do  not  fly  to  the  rescue  ! 

Here  is  a  peculiarly  distressing  crescendo  shake 
which  is  quite  com- 
mon : 

It  is  just  a  little  bit 
suggestive  of  a  tree 
toad,  yet  it  is  not  the  quiet,  subdued  voice  of  that 
soothing  little  creature  at 
all.    Again,  the  owl  sings : 
and  we  imagine  some  one 


-          -.,         -  ,       .  .  To-WOO      to-WOO       WOO 

badly  hurt  lying  moaning 

and  nearly  breathless  on  the  distant  road.  But  again 
we  hear  the  strange  voice,  and  now  it  sounds  like  a 
far  -  away  hys- 
terical laugh  : 
This  is  the  owl's 
spring  song ! 

The  screech  owl  is  a  bird  of  prey,  and  he  is  not 


136    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

particular  about  a  small  matter  of  theft  and  murder ; 
for  some  night  he  will  appear  before  the  oriole's 
home  when  the  family  is  asleep,  and  if  the  nest  in 
the  pear  tree  is  shallow  he  will  claw  out  the  young 
ones  and  devour  them  at  his  leisure  one  by  one.  Not 
even  the  mother  bird  may  escape  his  murderous 
attack.  The  pendulous  nest  of  the  oriole  is  compara- 
tively safe  in  either  the  elm  or  the  maple,  because  on 
both  these  trees  the  leaves  are  large  and  abundant ; 
but  in  spring  the  orchard  trees  with  their  thin  foliage 
are  bad  homes  for  birds  and  good  hunting  grounds 
for  owls.  However,  the  chief  food  of  this  owl  is 
mice  and  insects ;  he  does  not  often  dine  on  young 
orioles. 

The  screech  owl  is  common  North  and  South. 
He  flits  at  dusk  along  the  roads  which  wind  through 
the  mountains  of  northern  New  Hampshire,  and  he 
resorts  to  the  unfrequented  byways  of  New  Jersey ; 
in  fact,  he  is  a  bird  quite  at  home  on  the  dark  and 
lonely  road,  where  he  can  undisturbed  plan  his  mis- 
chievous plots — robber  that  he  is !  I  have  met  him 
in  the  far  North  on  the  shaded  road  which  ap- 
proaches the  Dixville  Notch,  N.  H.,  and  on  a  lonely 
byway  leading  through  the  scrubby  pines  of  Mon- 
mouth  County,  N.  J. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

BIRDS    OF    BRILLIANT    FEATHERS HUMMING    BIRD,    JAY, 

BLUEBIRD,    TANAGER,    ORIOLE,    ETC. 

HUMMING  BIRDS  have  been  aptly  called  "the 
jewels  of  ornithology."  And  in  truth  they  are  per- 
fect little  jewels  on  the  wing.  We  can  only  realize 
this  fact  after  having  been  fortunate  enough  to  hold 
one  of  the  tiny,  fairylike  creatures  in  our  hand  ;  then 
the  rubies,  emeralds,  and  sapphires  show  themselves 
in  all  their  astonishing,  miniature  beauty.  The  re- 
markable "  gorget "  (for  so  the  humming  bird's  ruby 
collar  is  named)  under  a  magnifying  glass  is  a  blaze 
of  resplendent  red  fire!  The  subtile  color  is  far 
more  beautiful  than  that  which  we  see  in  the  ruby ; 
in  proof  of  which  hold  the  magnifying  glass  close 
to  a  spinel  ruby  and  note  its  glassy  lifelessness  in 
comparison.  John  Ruskin  was  quite  right  when  he 
said  that  there  was  far  more  preciousness  of  color  in 

rainbows,  dewdrops,  and  birds'  wings  than  in  diamonds 

137 


138    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

and  rubies.*  It  is  well  worth  while  to  examine  a 
peacock's  tail  feather  under  the  glass ;  what  burning 
hues  are  there!  Gold  and  copper,  emerald  green 
and  cerulean  blue,  violet  and  ultramarine,  purple, 
yellow,  and  even  such  remarkable  tints  as  lilac  and 
aquamarine  green  (these  last  are  on  the  extreme  outer 
edge  of  the  broad,  copper-colored  field,  in  the  center 
of  which  is  the  emerald-rimmed  violet  eye).  We 
can  not  see  the  lilac  and  green  without  the 'glass, 
nor  without  its  aid  can  we  appreciate 
the  jewel-beauty  of  the  tiny 
little  "  hummer."  He 
is  all  golden  -  green 
above,  with  wings  of 
The  Eubythroat.  dusky  violet,  and  breast 

of    dull    pearly   white  ; 

but  his  red  collar  is  the  most  remarkable  part  of  his 
coloring. 

The  beautiful  little  ruby  throat  humming  bird 
(Trochihis  colubris)  belongs  to  a  very  large  family; 
he  represents  one  of  no  less  than  five  hundred  spe- 


*  In  the  Lectures  on  Art  he  says,  after  praising  the  plumage 
of  the  peacock  and  kingfisher :  "  Entirely  common  and  vulgar 
compared  with  these  ...  we  have  the  colors  of  gems.  The  green 
of  the  emerald  is  the  best  of  these,  but  at  its  best  is  as  vulgar  as 
house-painting  beside  the  green  of  bird's  plumage  or  of  clear 
water.  .  .  .  The  ruby  is  like  the  pink  of  an  ill-dyed  and  half- 
washed-out  print  compared  to  the  dianthus." 


BIRDS  OF  BRILLIANT  FEATHERS.  139 

cies  of  hummers,  most  of  which  have  been  positively 
specified.*  Fifteen  distinct  species  are  common  in 
the  United  States. 

Humming  birds,  I  might  add,  are  peculiarly 
American ;  but  they  are  mostly  confined  to  the 
tropical  portions  of  the  southern  continent,  particu- 
larly to  the  United  States  of  Colombia  and  Brazil. 
Our  own  little  rubythroat  is  comparatively  small 
beside  the  largest  and  most  magnificent  species  but 
recently  discovered  in  Arizona,  named  Eugenes 
fulgens.  This  gorgeous  hummer  is  something  like 
six  inches  hi  length !  I  believe  he  stands  number 
four  hundred  and  eight  on  the  list. 

We  must  not  be  disappointed  if  among  more  than 
half  the  little  hummers  that  we  see  the  ruby  color 
is  quite  wanting.  The  female  does  not  wear  a  red 
collar,  but  she  has  the  same  golden -green  back  and 
purple  wings,  although,  perhaps,  these  are  not  quite 
as  brilliant  as  those  of  her  mate.f  The  tongue  of 
the  humming  bird  is,  I  think,  the  most  remarkable 
part  of  its  anatomy ;  it  is  like  a  double-barreled 


*  It  seems  strange  that  Wilson  knew  of  only  this  one  species. 
It  is  astounding  to  learn  that  within  the  eighty  odd  years  suc- 
ceeding his  time  nearly  four  hundred  new  species  have  been  dis- 
covered, and  over  four  hundred  specifically  labeled  ! 

f  There  are  other  differences,  too  :  the  tail  of  the  male  is 
forked,  that  of  the  female  is  double-scallop-shaped  with  black 
bars,  and  lateral  feathers  white-tipped. 


140    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

shotgun,  only  instead  of  belching  forth  murderous 
shot,  it  sucks  in  the  sweets  of  the  flowers.  This  ex- 
traordinary little  double-tubed  tongue  is  guided  into 
the  honeysuckle's  long  throat  by  well-developed, 
strong  muscles  ;  and  while  the  bee  is  vainly  bustling 
about,  plunging  his  head  "  up  to  his  ears "  in  the 
aggravating  blossom  all  to  no  purpose,  our  little 
hummer  makes  one  lightinglike  dart  at  it  and 
secures  the  honey  with  apparently  no  effort  what- 
ever. 

I  find  the  humming  bird  is  very  fond  of  nastur- 
tiums, petunias,  and  delphiniums,  and  notwithstand- 
ing the  fact  that  the  milkweed  blossom  is  cloyingly 
sweet,  he  passes  it  by,  where  it  stands  just  beside  the 
road  near  my  garden  fence,  and  makes  a  bee  line  for 
my  brilliant,  red  King  of  Tom  Thumbs  and  my  ruby- 
spotted  yellow  Ladybird  nasturtiums.  Perhaps  he 
does  not  fancy  the  aesthetic,  lilac-drab  colors  of  the 
ubiquitous  milkweed. 

The  little  fellow  has  mere  apologies  for  legs ; 
they  are  quite  useless  for  locomotion,  but  are  admi- 
rably adapted  for  a  tiny  perch.  He  can  support  him- 
self firmly  on  a  wire  scarcely  thicker  than  a  hairpin. 
He  stands  on  the  wire  screening  which  supports  my 
sweet  peas — very  light  wire  it  is,  too — and  preens  his 
feathers  with  every  appearance  of  security  and  con- 
tentment. While  he  is  at  the  flowers  feeding  he 


BIRDS  OF  BRILLIANT  FEATHERS. 

utters  a  short,  nervous  "  chip,  chip,"  as  though  he 
were  not  quite  sure  that  some  one  would  not  take 
advantage  of  his  position  and  catch  him  by  the  tail. 

There  is  no  bird  that  can  build  a  nest  as  soft  and 
beautiful  as  that  of  the  humming  bird.  It  is  a  tiny 
affair,  about  an  inch  and  a  quarter  broad  inside,  lined 
with  bits  of  cotton,  soft  hairs,  and  moss,  and  covered 
outside  with  patches  of  lichens.  The  nest  usually 
contains  two  white,  pearly  eggs  (I  believe  the  hum- 
ming bird  never  lays  more  than  two).  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that  it  is  most  frequently  planted  solidly  on  a 
good-sized  horizontal  bough,  and  looks  more  like  a 
lichen-covered  excrescence  on  the  latter  than  it  does 
like  a  bird's  nest. 

The  little  ruby  throat  is  not  as  wild  and  timid  as 
might  be  supposed.  If  we  are  patient  and  quiet  he 
will  often  perch  very  near  us,  and  if  we  have  a 
bunch  of  flowers  in  our  hand,  make  bold  enough  to 
approach  and  help  himself  to  their  sweets. 

It  is  nonsense  to  suppose  that  only  a  few  possess 
the  knack  of  becoming  the  intimate  friends  of  wild 
birds  and  animals ;  if  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  gift  of 
this  nature  it  is  a  very  commonplace,  practical  one, 
composed  of  tact  and  patience  rather  than  sentiment. 
The  squirrel  will  run  across  our  toes  if  it  suits  his 
convenience,  and  the  bird  will  take  crumbs  from  our 
hand  if  he  is  hungry  enough ;  all  depends  upon  our 


142    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

own  patience  and  willingness  to  stand  or  sit  still  for  an 
indefinite  period.  As  there  are  many  restless  people 
who  can  not  do  this,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that 
they  are  the  only  ones  who  never  can  become  the 
favored  friends  of  squirrels  and  birds.  It  is  doubt- 
ful, however,  whether  even  inanimate  stones  are 
counted  as  friends  by  the  wary  crow — that  steely 
blue-black  *  beauty  of  the  cornfield.  He  is  a  cynic 
of  the  bird  family,  suspicious  of  everything  and 
everybody,  to  whom  the  merest  novelty  (no  matter 
what  its  nature)  is  part  of  a  plot  for  his  destruction. 
A  dozen  or  so  of  four-foot  sticks,  connected  by  harm- 
less lines  of  white  twine,  placed  here  and  there  in  the 
cornfield,  are,  according  to  his  way  of  thinking,  a 
substantial  menace  to  public  safety — that  is,  the  safety 
of  the  tribe,  Corpus  Americanus.  But  the  crow  is 
wily ;  he  is  sagacious  beyond  calculation,  and  he  fully 
understands  the  value  of  sentinel  duty.  Before  we 
can  get  within  gunshot  of  the  ten  marauders  which 
we  see  are  plainly  engaged  in  "  hoeing  the  farmer's 
corn,"  a  sharp  signal  "  caw-r-rrr "  comes  from  the 
edge  of  the  copse  near  by — the  game  is  up,  and  the 
birds  are  flown  ! 

The  crow's  nest  is  a  rough  affair,  built  high  up  in 

*  The  beautiful  iridescent  black  of  the  crow's  feathers  is  no 
ordinary  color ;  its  brilliancy  is  unattainable  so  far  as  the  artist's 
paint  box  is  concerned. 


BIRDS  OF  BRILLIANT  FEATHERS. 

the  tree ;  it  contains  from  four  to  six  generally  blue- 
green  (rarely  white)  eggs  speckled  brown. 

There  is  another  bird,  not  so  distant  a  relative  of 
the  crow  either,  who  when  he  is  hungry  does  not 
hesitate  to  help  himself  from  a  plate  of  food,  acci- 
dently  exposed  in  the  preparation  of  a  meal  in  camp, 
or  even  from  a  hand  holding  an  enticing  crust.  This 
is  the  Canada  jay  (Perisoreus  Cana- 
densis\  a  bright,  quaker-drab- 
colored,  gray- 


C  an  ad  a  Jay. 

vested,  white -breasted  individual,  as  bold  as  his  crow 
cousin  is  wary.  He  is  a  large  bird,  eleven  inches  in 
length,  with  wing  feathers  mostly  white-tipped  ;  I 
first  became  acquainted  with  him  on  the  summit  of 
Mount  Osceola,  one  of  the  southern  peaks  of  the 
White  Mountains,  situated  in  Waterville.  Here, 
several  years  ago,  in  midsummer,  while  my  com- 
panion and  myself  were  resting  and  refreshing  our- 
selves with  our  luncheon,  we  fed  three  Canada  jays 


FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE   ROADSIDE. 

from  our  hands.  So  greedy  was  one  of  them  that 
he  crammed  two  fair-sized  crusts  in  his  bill  and 
endeavored  to  seize  the  third ;  one  of  his  feet  rested 
in  my  palm  and  the  other  grasped  my  thumb.  Sev- 
eral tree  sparrows  (Spizella  monticola)  near  by  also 
seemed  anxious  to  have  a  share  of  the  feast,  but 
no  quietude  nor  persuasiveness  of  manner  on  our 
part  sufficiently  encouraged  them  to  feed  from  our 
hands ;  they  would  fly  quite  near,  and  one  even  ven- 
tured to  snatch  a  crumb  from  off  my  knee.  Rare- 
ly the  Canada  jay  has  appeared  down  in  the  valley 
near  my  cottage,  probably  with  a  view  of  filching 
some  tidbits  around  by  the  kitchen  way.  He  has  a 
hoarse  voice  similar  to  that  of  the  blue  jay,  but  not 
so  boisterous;  sometimes  he  gives  a  low,  nervous 
whistle.  The  nest  is  usually  found  in  a  spruce  tree  ; 
it  contains  from  four  to  five  white  eggs  speckled 
with  light  olive-brown. 

The  Canada  jay  has  a  cousin  who  is  decked  in  far 
finer  feathers;  this  is  the  blue  jay  (Cyanodtta  cris- 
tata) ;  he  is  also  related  to  the  crow.  But  he  is  a 
bold  creature,  full  of  pranks  and  nonsense,  who 
always  creates  a  sensation  in  the  bird  world.  His 
costume  is  a  perfect  "  symphony  in  blue "  ;  cadet 
blue,  ultramarine,  pale  blue,  gray,  black,  and  white — 
these  are  his  regimentals. 

The  blue  jay's  voice  is  a  familiar  one ;   we  all 


BIRDS  OF  BRILLIAJSTT  FEATHERS.  145 

immediately  recognize  his  catlike  "  ja-ja-ja,  ja,  jay  1 " 

Then,  too,  he  has  a 

vehement  whistle  :  and  another : 


fo  r*  r*  r*  I 


It  is  a  characteristic  of  the  blue  jay  that  he  is  ever 
on  the  move  and  never  quiet  when  he  moves  ;  if  he 
leaves  one  apple  tree  for  another  he  does  so  vocif- 
erously, no  matter  if  the  flight  is  only  a  matter  of 
ten  feet. 

The  nest  of  the  blue  jay  is  usually  snugly  fixed 
in  the  crotch  of  a  tree  branch  fifteen  feet  or  so  above 
the  ground.  It  is  built  mostly  of  small  rootlets,  and 
contains  from  four  to  six  brown-gray  eggs  marked 
with  rust-colored  spots. 

The  delightful,  good-natured  bluebird  (Sialia 
sialis\  whose  azure  wings  flit  with  a  charming  effect 
of  color  through  the  thin,  budding  foliage  of  early 
April,  is  (excepting  his  blueness)  more  nearly  like 
the  English  robin  redbreast  than  any  of  our  other 
birds;  in  fact,  the  early  settlers  of  New  England 
called  him  the  "  blue  robin."  He  is  a  sociable  little 
creature,  who  approves  of  and  patronizes  the  bird 
house,  and  is  pleased  to  pick  up  a  few  crumbs  from 

the  piazza  steps ;  he  even  perches  on  the  railing  with 
11 


146    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

an  evident  feeling  of  confidence  in  the  good -will  of 
mankind. 

The  bluebird  is  evenly  colored  with  pale  ultra- 
marine from  his  crown  to  the  middle  of  his  back  and 
wings ;  the  brightest  color  is  at  the  shoulders ;  under 
his  bill  is  a  little  white,  but  his  breast  is  rusty  red. 
The  long  feathers  of  his  wings  and  those  of  his  tail 
are  slate-gray  tinged  blue ;  beneath  he  is  white.  I 
can  conceive  of  nothing  more  beautifully  soft  in  color 

than  the  plumage  of 
the  bluebird  in  early 
spring,  when  the  in- 
cipient green  grass 
and  the  yet  leafless 
but  budding  twigs 
of  the  orchard  trees 

Bluebird. 

are  but   a  welcome 

promise  of  color  to  come.  But  if  once  our  eyes  are 
fortunate  enough  to  catch  the  gleam  of  the  bluebird's 
wings  against  the  leaden  hue  of  a  cloudy  New 
England  sky  we  are  satisfied  ;  and  amid  the  gray 
surroundings  the  touch  of  cerulean  blue  seems  as 
precious  as  it  is  beautiful. 

It  is  not  strange  that  the  farmer  rejoices  at  the 
advent  of  the  bluebird,  either,  for  it  has  been  esti- 
mated that  each  pair  destroys  in  one  season  from 
fifty  to  one  hundred  thousand  worms  and  grubs. 


BIRDS  OF  BRILLIANT  FEATHERS. 


14T 


The  female  bird  is  very  plainly  attired  in  brown- 
ish gray  with  only  a  suggestion  here  and  there  of 
greenish  blue.  She  selects  a  bird  house  for  her  nest, 
or  the  hole  in  some  old  apple  tree  or  fence  post. 
Mr.  Burroughs  says  she  shows  no  affection  for  her 
gallant  mate  and  no  pleasure  in  his  society,  and  if 
.he  is  killed  she  goes  in  quest  of  another  husband  in 
a  most  businesslike  manner.  The  nest  is  a  simple 
hollow  in  the  center  of  some  dried  grass ;  in  it  there 
are  from  four  to  six  very  pale-blue  eggs. 

The  bluebird's  song  impresses  me  with  its 
scrappy  nature ;  he  has  only  three  or  four  notes  at 
his  command,  and  these  are  in  the  minor  key.  Like 
the  robin,  he  often  sings  in  triplets,  thus : 


but  his  notes  are  sweeter  and  not  so  strong ;  unlike 
the  robin,  though,  he  says  very  plainly  as  he  sings  : 


ISva 


Tre-wee,tre-wee-Iy.    Tre-wee,  tre-wee-ly  Tre-wee-ty,  fre-wee-ly. 

These  notes  are  not  like  those  of  the  canarylike 
yellowbird ;  they  have  a  more  bell-like  quality.  As 
early  as  the  latter  end  of  March  the  bluebirds  beo-in 


148    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

to  appear  in  the  Arnold  arboretum,  near  Boston,  and 
in  the  township  of  Campton,  E".  H.,  where  patches 
of  snow  still  remain  plentiful  beside  the  road. 

One  of  the  most  charming  little  birds  which  fre- 
quents the  roadside  and  sings  throughout  August 
is  the  intensely  blue  indigo  bunting,  or  indigo  bird 
(Passerina  cyanea).  He  is  about  five  and  a  half 
inches  long.  The  blue  is  an  even  indigo-ultramarine, 
darker  on  the  head,  wings  (somewhat  brown-tinged), 
and  tail ;  indeed,  it  is  a  much  "bluer  bird  than  the 
bluebird,  and  is  perhaps  more  deserving  of  the  name.* 

The  nest  is  usually  built  among  the  bushes,  and 
in  it  there  are  generally  four  or  five  white  or  bluish 
white  eggs.  The  male  bird  has  a  really  beautiful  but 
not  strong,  canarylike  voice,  with  something  of  a  lisp- 
ing character.  He  sings  in  the  top  of  a  tree,  and 
very  frequently  close  beside  the  road.  I  have  timed 
him  on  several  occasions,  and  have  found  his  song 
from  five  to  seven  seconds  long.  It  generally  begins 
with  a  moderate  fortissimo  and  ends  in  a  pianissimo 
trill,  or  sometimes  with  two  short  faint  notes  : 


*  The  plumage,   in  parts,  is  iridescent,  like  that  of  the  pea- 
cock ;  sometimes  it  appears  quite  greenish  blue. 


ROAD    NEAR   DODSONVILLE 
HIGHLAND   CO.,    OHIO. 

INDIGO   BIRD. 


BIRDS  OF  BRILLIANT  FEATHERS.  14.9 

But  I  imagine  it  may  not  be  so  easy  to  distin- 
guish the  musical  indigo  bird  from  several  other 
chirping  singers,  so  far  as  u  style  "  is  concerned,  and 
I  would  advise  those  who  are  unfamiliar  with  the 
song  sparrow's  and  the  yellowbird's  notes  to  make 
a  careful  comparison  of  the  music  of  all  three  birds 
as  I  have  represented  it  here.  There  are  two  or 
three  comparisons  which  I  can  make  that  should  aid 
one  considerably  in  the  attempt  to  distinguish  these 
songs  apart.  The  indigo  bird's  voice  is  sprightly, 
thin,  irregular,  and  lisping,  and  the  song  lasts  longer 
than  that  of  the  song  sparrow.  The  latter  frequently 
sings  a  tune  three  and  a  half  seconds  long,  composed 
of  three  notes,  a  trill,  and  three  strong  final  notes.  * 
The  indigo  bird  never  does  this.  We  can  not  divide 
his  song  into  distinct  parts  any  more  than  we  can 
that  of  a  canary;  it  is  all  one  rapid  medley.  The 
yellowbird's  notes  can  always  be  heard  toward  sun- 
set, when  the  happy  little  fellow  is  on  the  wing,  dip- 
ping along  in  his  billowy  lines  of  flight.  This  song  is 
entirely  his  own,  and  the  indigo  bird  never  sings  a 
single  passage  which  remotely  resembles  it. 

Another  remarkably  brilliant  bird  is  the  scarlet 
tanager  (Piranga  erythromelas) ;  he  is  about  seven 
inches  long,  and  is  vivid  scarlet,  all  except  his  wings 

*  See  the  first  music  I  have  given  of  this  sparrow  in  a  forego- 
ing chapter. 


150   FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


and  tail,  which  are  jet  black.  So  splendid  a  bird,  if 
he  flies  across  the  road  from  one  patch  of  woods  to 
another,  can  not  fail  to  catch  the  eye  on  a  bright  day. 

But  the  flash  of  color  is 
sudden  and  momentary — 
he  is  gone  in  less  time  than 
it  takes  to  tell  it !     This  is 
the    male  bird,   though ;   the 
female   is  dressed  in  a  modest 
costume   of   yellow-olive   green,  a 
splendid  foil  for  her  scarlet  mate. 
She  builds  her  very  slight  nest  in 
an  orchard  tree,  perhaps,  and  in  it 
lays    four    light    green -blue    eggs 
speckled  with  madder  brown. 

The  scarlet  tanager  is  most  fre- 
quently heard  on  the  edge  of  the  wood  that  borders 
the  road ;  he  rarely  comes  out  in  the  open  to  sing. 
Like  the  thrush  he  prefers  the  forest,  but  he  sings 
a  very  different  kind  of  a  song.  Listen :  here  are 
the  notes : 


7* 

Scarlet  Tanager. 


Mark  how  much  they  resemble  the  robin's.  But  again 
we  may  hear  another  tanager  sing,  and  we  think  his 
soft  warblings  are  nearer  like  those  of  the  Baltimore 


BIRDS  OF  ERILLIANT  FEATHERS. 

oriole,  except  that  the  music  of  the  latter  is  not  soft. 
It  is  very  plain  in  any  event  that  he  delivers  his  notes 
in  groups  of  twos  and  threes,  and  this  is  quite  charac- 
teristic of  the  oriole. 


Iflva. 


Pip 


The  scarlet  tanager  is,  on  the  whole,  rather  a 
rare  bird,  I  think,  for  in  my  own  experience  he 
makes  a  short  season  of  it,  and  leaves  for  the 
South  long  before  the  other  birds  do.  In  the  Pemi- 
gewasset  Valley  he  arrives  in  late  May  and  disap- 
pears as  early,  I  should  think,  as  the  end  of  Septem- 
ber. I  never  heard  him  sing  after  the  middle  of 
June.  Wilson  says  his  food  is  principally  winged 
insects,  such  as  wasps,  hornets,  bees,  and  so  forth. 
His  taste  is  not  confined  to  insects,  however,  as  he 
relishes  the  berries  which  grow  beside  the  road — 
especially  huckleberries.  I  have  also  noticed  that  he 
likes  the  bird  cherry  (Prunus  Pennsylvania). 

A  rather  rare  brilliantly  feathered  bird  we  may 
possibly  see  on  the  highway  in  midsummer,  called 
the  cardinal  grosbeak  (Cardinalis  cardinalis).  He 
is  bright,  light  red  of  a  pure  tone,  closely  allied  to 
scarlet ;  the  bird  in  captivity  I  have  been  sur- 
prised to  see  is  greatly  faded  in  color.  We  may 
know  the  grosbeak  by  his  large  bill,  his  striking  crest, 


152    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

which  he  lowers  and  raises  at  will,  and  his  black 
face  and  throat.  In  song  the  cardinal  grosbeak  is 
not  to  be  compared  with  the  thrushes  or  the 
thrasher;  his  notes  are  whistled,  and  quite  similar 
to  those  of  the  scarlet  tanager.  Very  rarely  I  have 
caught  sight  of  this  beautiful  bird  on  the  wooded 
roadsides  of  New  Jersey.  In  Virginia  he  is  quite 
common. 

The  most  brilliant  bird  which  appears  on  the 
roadside — and  he  is  always  to  be  found  in  the  elm 
or  the  maple,  near  some  old  homestead — is  the  Balti- 
more oriole*  (Icterus  galbula).  He  is  about  seven 
and  a  half  inches  long.  His  lower  back  and  breast 
are  brilliant  orange,  the  head  and  wings  are  black, 
and  a  white  band  marks  the  latter.  The  female 
is  olive-backed  and  yellow-olive-breasted.  She  lays 
about  five  buff-tinged  white  eggs  marked  on  the 
larger  ends  with  purple-brown  spots.  The  nest  is  a 
remarkable,  woven  pouch,  from  five  to  seven  inches 
deep,  usually  hung  from  an  upper,  slender  branch,  f 
Bits  of  hemp,  rope,  twine,  hair,  wool,  thistle-down,  or, 
in  fact,  anything  shreddy  which  can  be  picked  up 
around  the  house,  the  bird  weaves  into  the  nest  with 
consummate  skill. 

*  Named  for  the  first  Lord  Baltimore  because  the  black  and 
orange  of  its  plumage  were  the  colors  forming  his  livery, 
f  See  also  the  mention  of  oriole  nest-building  on  page  132. 


BIRDS  OF  BRILLIANT  FEATHERS.  153 

It  is  often  the  case  that  the  mother-bird  (she  most 
frequently  does  all  the  work)  gets  entangled  with  a 
bit  of  string  while  she  is  building  the  nest,  and  some- 
times it  is  at  the  cost  of  her  life.  I  have  seen  one 
bird  so  badly  mixed  up  with  a  snarl  of  hair  and 
string  that  her  wings  were  helpless,  and  she  fluttered 
to  the  ground  in  dangerous  proximity  to  an  ever- 
watchful  cat;  but  she  was  rescued  in  time  and  re- 
leased from  the  tangle.  For  four  successive  years 
this  oriole  built  her  nest  in  a  sugar  maple  within 
ten  feet  of  the  hotel,  and  only  a  few  yards  from  the 
highway,  at  Blair,  N.  H.,  where  the  mountain  woods 
were  near  enough  to  satisfy  birds  of  the  most  fas- 
tidious social  habits ;  but  the  oriole  is  not  content 
to  nest  farther  than  a  dozen  yards  from  one's  door- 
step. 

The  oriole's  notes  are  so  familiar  that  I  do  not 
need  to  give  more  than  a  few 
of  the  commoner  ones  to  re- 
fresh our  memory  : 


l8va 


The  couplets  are  very  clear  and  distinct,  and  have 
a  better  pitch,  perhaps,  than  those  of  the  robin. 
However  similarly  the  two  birds  may  sing,  we  can 


15  J:    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

always  tell  one  from  the  other  by  the  quality  of 
their  notes ;  those  of  the  oriole  are  more  bell-like  or 
liquid,  but  the  robin's  are  robust,  and  most  generally 
confined  to  a  low-pitch  warble.  Both,  however,  are 
loud  whistlers. 


CHAPTER  X. 

WOODLAND   SINGERS — THE   THRUSHES,  VIREO,  AND 
PEABODY    BIRD. 

THE  plain -coated  thrushes  are  our  greatest  singers. 
Whoever  has  not  heard  them  at  the  sunset  hour, 
while  wheeling  along  the  road  in  late  spring  or 
early  summer,  has  yet  to  hear  the  sweetest  songs 
of  the  sky. 

Wilson  says  little  or  nothing  about  the  music  of 
two  or  three  singularly  gifted  members  of  the  Thrush 
family,  and  it  is  particularly  to  these  that  I  wish  to 
draw  attention.  The  Turdidce  is  a  large  family  ;  in 
one  subdivision  alone  (the  Turdince)  there  are  quite 
one  hundred  and  fifty  species.  One  of  the  most 
familiar  birds  belonging  to  this  division  is  the  robin 
(Merula  migratoria\  who  is  quite  a  different  bird 
from  his  thrush  cousins,  how  greatly  different  we 
readily  see  upon  making  a  general  comparison.  He 
is  not  a  woodland  bird. 

The  robin's  voice  is  pitched  low,  those  of  all  the 

155 


156    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

thrushes  are  pitched  high.  The  robin  delights  in  the 
close-clipped  lawn,  the  thrush  prefers  the  forest 
tree ;  he  rarely  comes  within  a  hundred  yards  of  a 
house,  but  the  robin  often  socially  greets  us  quite 
near  the  piazza  steps.  The  true  thrush  is  a  woodland 
bird  ;  the  robin  delights  in  the  open  country,  and  he 
is  companionable,  but  the  thrush  is  timid  and  retir- 
ing, and  his  plumage  is  colored  so  nearly  like  the 
gray  limbs  of  the  tree,  or  the  dead  leaves  below  them 
where  he  is  always  flitting,  that  we  can  scarcely  see 
him  twenty  feet  away.  But  on  the  green  lawn  the 
rusty  breast  and  the  slate-black  crest  of  the  robin 
are  prominent  bits  of  color  which  are  visible  far 
away. 

The  robin's  warble  is  so  very  well  known  to  us 
that  it  seems  unnecessary  to  take  any  note  of  it  here  ; 
but  for  the  sake  of  a  little  interesting  comparison 
with  other  bird  music,  I  give  two  bits  of  his  cheery 
song  which  I  think  will  sound  familiar  : 


His  notes  are  generally  delivered  staccato  and  in 
couplets  or  triplets,  but  frequently  he  gives  us  a  few 
with  caressing  modulations,  and  still  others  slurred, 
thus : 


WOODLAND  SINGERS. 


157 


Compare  this  with  the  music  of  the  hermit  thrush 
further  on,  and  it  will  be  seen  what  a  great  difference 
there  is  in  the  construction  of  the  two  songs.  The 
hermit  thrush  gives  us  no  warbling  note,  but  distinct 
silvery  whistles  in  rapid  triplets.  It  would  be  impos- 
sible, too,  for  the  robin  to  sustain  a  long  high  note, 
and  then  "  go  to  pieces  "  in  silvery  fragments  on  the 
next  higher  one,  just  as  the  hermit  does.  No ;  robin 
rarely  ventures  beyond  his  low-pitch,  agitated  coup- 
lets and  triplets,  but  these  he  delivers  with  consum- 
mate skill. 

The  robin's  nest  is  a  rude,  mud-plastered  affair 
saddled  on  a  low  bough  or  set  upon  a  secluded  bit  of 
ground ;  in  it  one  may  see  from  four  to  six  most 
beautiful  "  robin's-egg  blue  "  eggs.  I  use  the  popu- 
lar color  term  because  it  is  the  only  one  which  is 
unique,  and  is  fittingly  given.  The  color  is  a  sober, 
delicate,  yet  pronounced  green -blue,  the  like  of  which 
is  not  easily  found  elsewhere  in  Nature. 

How  much  the  young  robin  can  eat  is  a  subject 
for  an  essay  ;  in  fact,  it  is  one  which  for  many  years 


158    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

past  ornithologists  have  delighted  in.  But  I  will 
only  repeat  one  marvelous  and  truthful  account  of 
the  bird's  feeding  propensity.  Prof.  Treadwell  says 
that  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  robins  will  eat  a  mil- 
lion worms  and  caterpillars  in  a  season,  and  that  a 
young  one  will  eat  in  twelve  hours  a  hundred  and 
forty  per  cent  of  its  own  weight,  and  devour  four- 
teen feet  of  earthworms !  Now,  if  this  wonderful 
eater  would  only  concentrate  his  powers  on  the  dread- 
ful gypsy  moth,  what  a  blessing  it  would  be  to  our 
elm  trees !  But  robin  eats  other  things  as  well, 
among  which  are  barberries,  berries  of  the  Phyto- 
lacca  decandra,  those  of  the  poison  ivy,  wild  black 
cherries,  and  black  alder  berries.  He  also  relishes 
cutworms,  a  fact  which  I  recently  discovered  to  my 
infinite  satisfaction.  The  interesting  way  the  robin 
carries  himself  on  the  lawn  must  be  noticeable  to  the 
most  casual  observer.  He  stands  erect  and  motion- 
less for  two  seconds  or  so,  then  darts  forward  at  a 
rapid  run,  and  pounces  upon  a  bit  of  turf  in  which  he 
plunges  his  bill  in  an  agitated  kind  of  a  way  ;  up  he 
bobs  again  serenely  with,  maybe,  a  fat  angleworm 
hanging  out  of  his  mouth,  then  da  capo!  If  we 
disturb  him  he  utters  a  "  quirp-yip-yip -yip-yap  "  and 
flies  to  a  neighboring  tree. 

A  not  very  distant  relative  of  the  robin,  but  a 
woodland  singer  nearer  related  to  the  catbird,  is  the 


WOODLAND  SINGERS.  159 

brown  thrush  or  thrasher  (Harporhyncus  rufus). 
He  is  nearly  if  not  quite  twelve  inches  long  (some- 
times longer),  is  light  reddish  brown  above  and  dull 
white  beneath,  and  his  breast  is  streaky  spotted  with 
brown ;  on  the  wings  beneath  the  shoulders  are  two 
white  bars.  The  bird  is  a  splendid  singer,  although 
his  wild  and  irregular  notes  are  by  no  means  as  sil- 
very and  sweet  as  those  of  his  thrush  cousins.  He 
appears  early  in  the  spring,  and  there  are  those  who 
interpret  his  snatchy  bits  of  song  as  advice  to  the 
farmer  to  "  plow  it  "  or  "  hoe  it."  But  it  must  not 
be  supposed  that  his  song  is  always  so  fragmentary. 
I  listened  not  long  since  to  a  brown  thrush,  and  he 
continued  his  song  without  intermission  for  ten  sec- 
onds— a  good  long  time  for  a  bird  to  sing.  The 
quality  of  his  note  is  not  unlike  that  of  the  robin, 
but  he  does  not  warble  like  the  robin,  nor  does  he 
whistle  with  flutelike  clearness  like  the  wood  thrush ; 
his  music  is  his  own,  and  is  quite  as  spasmodic  and 
unconventional  as  it  could  well  be. 

The  brown  thrush  frequents  the  thickets  and 
copses  not  far  from  the  road,  and  in  these  the  rude 
nests  are  built  at  no  great  distance  from  the  ground. 
There  are  usually  five  bluish  eggs  spotted  plentifully 
with  brown.  I  have  found  the  brown  thrush  to  be 
a  frequent  visitor  of  the  highways  which  pass  through 
the  southern  valleys  of  the  White  Mountains. 


160    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Where  the  road  enters  the  wild  wood,  just  under 
some  frowning  hill,  there  we  may  most  likely  hear, 
and  possibly  we  may  be  fortunate  enough  to  see,  one 
of  the  greatest  songsters  of  our  country,  if  not  the 
greatest  woodland  singer  in  the  world.  I  refer  to 
the  hermit  thrush,  whose  song  once  heard  can  never 
be  forgotten.  It  is  a  song  which  we  will  hear  from 
over  the  treetops,  if  the  air  is  still  at  sunset,  a  whole 
mile  away. 

But  I  must  first  speak  of  the  hermit's  better- 
known  relative.  The  wood  thrush  (Turdus  musteli- 

nus)  is  rather  a  plain,  tawny 
brown  bird  with  a  promi- 
nent white   breast,  striking- 
ly spotted  with   pointed  um- 
ber-brown spots,  a  broad,  flat 
head,    prominent    eyes,   and   a 
somewhat  long  bill.     The  brown 
is  deepest  on  the  head  and  as- 
sumes an  olive  tone  toward  the 
wings   and    tail.      The   bill   is 
black- brown  and  the  feet  yel- 
low brown.      The  characteristic, 
strongly   spotted    breast  of    this 
bird  is  sufficient  for  its  identifi- 
cation.     The  other  thrushes  are  not  nearly  so  well 
marked,  and  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  the  differences 


The  Wood  Thrush. 


WOODLAND  SINGERS.  161 

which  I  shall  point  out  in  their  breast  coloring. 
There  are  four  species  which  we  ought  to  know 
apart :  the  wood,  the  hermit,  Wilson's  and  Swainson's 
thrush. 

The  wood  thrush  is  the  largest  as  well  as  the  best- 
marked  bird  of  the  four ;  as  for  his  music,  in  my  own 
private  opinion  it  is  inferior  to  that  of  the  hermit 
thrush.  But  I  dislike  to  make  a  descending  com- 
parison, I  ought  rather  to  say  that  the  hermit's  song 
is  a  perfected  form  of  the  wood  thrush's  song.  Al- 
though the  wood  thrush  delivers  every  note  with 
the  utmost  precision  of  pitch  (a  thing  which  birds 
usually  do  not  do),  his  tones  are  softer  and  less  crys- 
tal-clear than  those  of  the  hermit.  The  latter  also 
frequently  indulges  in  a  brilliant  "  cadenza  "  *  (if  I 
may  be  allowed  the  use  of  the  term),  something 
which  is  never  present  in  the  wood  thrush's  song. 
Further  on  I  have  illustrated  the  nature  of  the  ca- 
denza, upon  which  we  may  wisely  depend  for  the 
identification  of  the  hermit's  song. 

The  wood  thrush  sings  as  late  as  the  first  of 
July,f  morning  and  evening.  He  is  not  particular 
about  sticking  to  triplets ;  often  he  indulges  in  groups 

*  A  cadenza  is  the  embellished  ending  of  a  tune  ;  it  usually 
begins  with  a  well-accented  high  note  and  subsides  to  the  key- 
note. 

f  Sometimes  much  later  in  the  hills  of  New  Hampshire. 
12 


162    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

of  two  and  five  notes  of  almost  equal  value.     Here 
are  some  of  his  (to  me  at  least)  most  familiar  strains : 


One  part  of  a  strain  which  Mr.  Cheney  has  re- 
corded is  very  familiar : 


His  range  is  apparently  not  so  great  as  that  of  the 
hermit,  but  he  has  no  limitation  as  to  key.  I  believe 
I  have  recorded  as  many  as  four,  which  I  was  sure 
came  from  one  bird's  little  throat.  The  best  of  these 
two  thrushs'  songs  is  this  :  they  can  be  perfectly  rep- 
resented by  musical  signs,  as  every  note  is  distinctly 
whistled.  But  we  must  not  forget  this — the  whis- 
tle has  no  equal  in  all  the  earth,  for  it  is  born  of 
heaven ! 

The  wood  thrush  lays  her  eggs  (perhaps  four  or 
five,  as  blue  as  a  robin's  but  smaller)  in  a  rough  nest 
built  of  grass,  leaves,  and  mud,  in  a  low  tree  or  in 
the  bushes  near  the  ground. 


MOUNT  LAFAYETTE, 
FRANCONIA  NOTCH, 
GRAFTON  CO.,  N.  H. 

THE    HERMIT    THRUSH. 


WOODLAND  SINGERS.  163 

A  greater,  at  least  a  more  brilliant,  singer  of .  our 
Northern  woods,  but  one,  however,  who  does  not  ob- 
ject occasionally  to  singing  in  a  tree  beside  the  high- 
way near  the  pasture  bars,  is  the  hermit  thrush  (Tur- 
dus  AonalaschkcB  Pallasii}.  This  plainly  attired  lit- 
tle creature  is  about  two  thirds  as  large  as  the  wood 
thrush.  His  back  is  an  olive-brown  which  grows 
slightly  ruddy  toward  the  tail ;  his  breast  is  dull 
white  spotted  with  pointed  spots  of  umber-brown, 
not  as  prominent  nor  as  large  as  those  of  the  wood 
thrush  ;  immediately  under  the  bill  the  throat  is  not 
spotted.  His  head  is  also  broad  and  the  eyes  are 
prominent.  The  tail  of  the  female  bird  is  most  like- 
ly to  be  a  rufous  brown.  She  lays  three  or  four 
green-blue  eggs,  rarely  if  ever  spotted,  in  a  rude  nest 
usually  hidden  under  the  bushes  and  grass  on  the 
ground.  In  the  South  the  hermit  thrush  lives  the 
year  around,  and  is  most  frequently  seen  in  the  deso- 
late cane  swamps,  flitting  in  the  dim  light  which  is 
characteristic  of  these  regions.  In  the  North  the 
home  of  the  hermit  is  among  the  mountain  woods ; 
he  is  always  heard  in  early  summer  in  the  vicinity  of 
Mounts  Lafayette  and  Kinsman,  N.  II.,  singing  along 
with  Swainson's  thrush  in  the  half -lit  spruce  woods 
late  in  the  day.  Indeed,  the  hermit  thrush  seems  to 
prefer  a  dim  if  not  a  "  religious  "  light,  which  may 
in  a  measure  account  for  the  hymnlike  quality  of  its 


164   FAMILIAR  FEATURES    OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


sinking,  which  Mr.   Burroughs   refers  to   in  Wake, 
Robin. 

But  I  shall  endeavor  to  give  a  more  tangible  ac- 
count of  this  bird's  extraordinary  voice.  His  notes 
are  silvery,  flute  whistles,  generally  delivered  in  trip- 
lets. His  range  is  quite  an  octave  or  more,  and 
frequently  he  rises  from  a  particular  note  to  the 
octave  higher,  with  surprising  precision  and  all  the 
eclat  of  an  accomplished  musician.  I  am  riot  alone  in 
my  observation  of  these  facts,  as  Mr.  Cheney  de- 
scribee the  hermit's  song  thus :  "  After  striking  his 
first  low,  long,  and  firm  note,  he  bounds  upward  by 
thirds,  fourths,  and  fifths,  and  sometimes  a  whole 
octave,  gurgling  out  his  triplets  with  every  upward 
movement " — which  is  exactly  true.  How  remark- 
ably pronounced  these  thirds  and  fifths  are  may  be 
seen  by  the  following  : 


(This  passage  is  usually  suc- 
ceeded by  that  marked  "  ca- 
denza.") But  this  is  not  all 
the  hermit  can  do  ;  his  gym- 
nastic exercises  in  the  high  treble  are  astonishing. 
All  at  once  he  starts  with  a  deliberate,  prolonged 
high  note,  springs  suddenly  to  the  next  whole  note 


WOODLAND  SINGERS. 


165 


higher,  and  then  falls  in  scintillant  music  a  full  oc- 
tave, thus : 

cadeuza, 
0 


a  regular  tumble-do wn-dick  cadenza,  which  always 
reminds  me  of  this  passage  near  the  close  of  Bee- 
thoven's Moonlight  Sonata : 


and  which,  by  the  way,  is  exactly  repeated  in  Cho- 
pin's Impromptu  Fantasia.  A  more  perfect  bit  of 
bird  music  (except  its  wide  range)  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  imagine. 

The  third  songster,  whose  music  can  not  possibly 
be  confused  with  that  of  either  of  the  two  thrushes  I 
have  described,  is  Wilson's  thrush,  or  the  tawny 
thrush,  sometimes  called  veery  (Turdus  fuscescens). 
This  bird  is  a  trifle  larger  than  the  hermit,  and  has 
quite  a  tawny  buff-brown  color,  the  tone  of  which  is 
red,  not  at  all  like  that  of  the  wood  thrush.  There 
are  extremely  few  small  spots  on  the  breast,  and 


166    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

these  begin  well  below  the  eye  and  extend  only 
over  the  frontlet  or  chest ;  beneath,  the  color  is  dull 
whitish  buff-gray. 

The  tawny  thrush  lays  from  three  to  five  blue- 
green   eggs   in   a   rude   nest  which   she 
builds  in  a  low  bush  or  on  the  ground  ; 
rarely  the  nest  may  be  found  in  a  low 
tree. 

Mr.  Minot  says  of  this  bird  that 
it  is  rare  in   northern  New  Eng- 
land,  but  its   song   is   a  familiar 
one  to  me  throughout  the  Pemi- 
gewasset    Valley,    N".    EL,    and 
even  as  far  North  as  Franconia. 
The    bird    is    easily  identified 
ft  ^i   ^Pl      both  by  its  color  and  its  song. 
Wilson's  Thrush.      ^  marked  characteristic  of  this 
species  is  a  total    absence   of 

the  darker  color  which  is  noticed  in  the  tail,  wings, 
and  crest  of  the  other  species.  Wilson's  thrush,  in 
other  words,  has  a  pretty  nearly  u  all  over  "  rufous 
color. 

One  generally  hears  this  bird  singing  in  the 
gloaming,  down  in  the  lower  part  of  the  valley, 
generally  near  a  brook  or  river.  The  notes  are 
complex,  somewhat  resembling  those  of  a  reed  or  a 
violin  ;  they  are  singularly  double-toned  and  sweet 


WOODLAND  SINGERS.  167 

beyond  description,  not  at  all  like  those  of  any  other 
bird  1  have  ever  heard.  When  I  say  double-toned,  I 
mean  that  the  musical  sound  is  in  a  certain  sense  har- 
monic* rather  than  melodic. 

To  render  this  song  in  so  many  positive  musical 
signs  seems  to  me  an  impossibility.  To  record  a 
number  of  distinct  whistles  is  an  easy  matter,  but 
Wilson's  thrush  does  not  whistle.  The  notes  are 
slurred  and  blended  beyond  the  power  of  a  musician 
to  analyze.  My  rendering  of  the  general  effect 
would  be  thus  :  f 

mollo  ace  el. 


But  sometimes  there  is  a  pianissimo  fifth  cluster 
of  notes,  dropping  perhaps  a  musical  third  below  the 
fourth  cluster  I  have  given.;]:  The  first  and  fourth 
clusters  are  exactly  alike ;  and  to  show  that  I  am 

*  The  musical  note  of  the  tree  toad  is  double-toned,  and  in  this 
respect  slightly  resembles  that  of  Wilson's  thrush.  So,  also,  is 
that  of  the  night  hawk. 

f  So  difficult  is  it  to  decide  upon  some  likeness  of  the  veery's 
music  which  may  be  produced  at  the  piano,  that  I  am  tempted  to 
suggest  the  discordant  alternative  of  striking  the  first  four  notes 
of  each  cluster  simultaneously  ;  it  is  at  least  possible  in  this  way 
to  more  truthfully  represent  the  mixed  quality  of  this  thrush's 
notes. 

\  Not  infrequently  the  thrush  begins  with  the  second  cluster  and 
adds  one  more  cluster  at  the  close  of  my  rendering  of  the  song. 


168    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

not  mistaken  here,  I  will  give  also  the  testimony  of 
Mr.  Cheney,  who  renders  the  song  thus  : 


He  also  sustains  my  theory  of  the  quality  of  the 
notes,  as  he  says  they  are  "  something  like  the  sweep 
of  an  accordion  through  the  air."  This  exactly  ex- 
presses the  peculiar  harmonic  crescendo  and  diminu- 
endo of  the  weird  notes. 

There  is  another  thrush  whose  song  I  am  not 
quite  so  well  acquainted  with,  but  one  which  may 
frequently  be  heard  singing  in  the  lonely  red  spruce 
forests  of  the  White  Mountain  region  in  late  spring 
or  early  summer  ;  this  is  called  Swainson's  thrush,  or 
the  olive-backed  thrush  (Turdus  ustulatus  Swain- 
sonii).  I  believe  this  bird  sings  only  at  nesting  time ; 
the  hermit  thrush  sings  all  summer.  But  in  June  I 
have  often  heard  both  birds  singing  at  the  same  time. 
Nothing  is  more  subtile  and  charming  to  one's  sense 
of  musical  harmony  than  this  exquisite,  wild,  silvery 
music  of  the  Northern  woods.  It  is  hardly  possible 
for  one  to  pass  over  the  highways  at  the  feet  of  the 
great  wooded  mountains  of  northern  New  York, 
Vermont,  and  New  Hampshire  without  hearing  (at 
least  in  May  or  June),  every  one  of  these  thrushes 


THE   INDIAN    PASS, 
ADIRONDACK    MOUNTAINS, 
ESSEX   CO.,    N.  Y. 

SWAINSON'S  THRUSH. 


WOODLAND  SINGERS.  169 

sing.*  I  am  quite  sure  of  having  heard  Swainson's 
thrush  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Placid,  and  in  the  In- 
dian Pass,  in  the  Adirondacks,  as  well  as  among  the 
mountains  of  Sandwich,  !N".  H. 

Swainson's  thrush  is  light  brown  in  color,  tinged 
over  the  throat,  breast,  sides  of  neck  and  head  with 
yellow.  The  general  tone  is  not  reddish  like  that  of 
Wilson's  thrush,  but  a  warm  light  brown  with  a 
strong  olive  cast  on  the  back  and  wings.  The  nest 
is  built  on  or  near  the  ground,  and  the  ee^s  are 

C)  7  OO 

green-blue,  freely  speckled  with  madder-brown. 

The  song  of  this  bird  is  not,  it  seems  to  me,  so 
easily  distinguished  from  that  of  the  wood  thrush, 
but  it  is  more  deliberate  and  less  scintillant  than  that 
of  the  hermit.  Perhaps  the  most  familiar  theme  is 


this: 


But  frequently  his  song  is  made  up  of  one  long  and 
two  short  notes  which  I  can  scarcely  distinguish,  ex- 
cept by  their  quality,  from  those  of  the  wood  thrush. 

8VcL 


T 


*  I  can  at  least  promise  the  wood  thrush's  song  in  central  Ver- 
mont and  New  Hampshire. 


170    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


But  before  we  leave  the  woodland  road  and  the 
thrushes,  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  another  bird 
who  incessantly  warbles  a  few  short  notes  among  the 
foliage  of  the  twilight  forest  in  midsummer.  Just 
where  the  light  takes  on  a  shimmering  green  color, 
where  the  forest  grows  silent  and  solemn  and  stately, 
there  is  always  in  summer  time  a  little  bird  away 


up  in  the   high- 
petually  sing- 
song. 


est    branches,  per- 
ing     a      disjointed 
This  is  called  the  red- 
vireo  ( Vireo  olivaceus). 
He    is    about    six   inches 
long,    olive  -  backed,    slaty- 
crowned  with  a  dark  line  over  the 
eye,  and  white-breasted.    The  hang- 
ing nest  is  usually  built  well  up  from 
the  ground   on   a   forked   branch,  and  in 
it  one  may  see  from  three  to  four  pearly 
white,  madder-brown  spotted  eggs. 
I  do  not  see  how  it  is  possible  for  one  to  mistake 
this  bird's  song  for  any  other.     No  other  bird  sings 
so  disjointedly  and  continuously.     I  must  except  the 
yellow-throated   vireo   ( Vireo  flamfrons\   however. 
This  bird  is  olive-green,  with  a  yellow  throat.     His 
song  is  pitched  lower,  and  the  tempo  is  less  agitated. 
The  best  time  to  hear  this  music  is  in  the  afternoon 
of  a  warm  day  in  July  or  August,  immediately  after 


Ked-eyed 

Vireo. 


WOODLAND   SINGERS. 


171 


a  shower ;  then  if  the  vireo  is  anywhere  around  he 
will  be  sure  to  sing.  Listen,  this  is  his  refrain,  in 
well-marked  common  time : 


The  groups  of  six  notes  are  given  in  a  querulous 
manner  but  with  rollicking  zest. 

There  is  still  another  woodland  bird — at  least  one 
which  may  certainly  be  heard  singing  somewhere 
near  the  top  of  a  wooded  hill,  just  beyond  the 
raspberry  patch  which  we  are  passing ;  the  voice 
sounds  miles  away,  but  it  is  an  unmistakably  familiar 
and  characteristic  one.  The  white-throated 
sparrow — for  this  is  the  bird — is  best 
known  by  the  name  Peabody  bird 
(Zonotrichia  albicollis).  In 
Wilson's  estimation,  this  is 
the  largest  as  well  as  the 
handsomest  of  all 
the  sparrows.  His 
crown  is  black,  his 

back     red -brown         ^  Peabody  Bird. 

umber  -  streaked, 

and  his  wing  feathers  are  light-brown  edged.  The 
throat  and  breast  are  dull  white,  and  over  the  eye 
there  are  two  white  stripes.  This  sparrow  nests  in 


FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


the   trees   of    the   woodlands,  and  lays  four  or  five 
white  eggs  marked  with  umber-brown. 

The  Peabody  bird's  song,  which  has  a  certain 
agreeable  pathos,  is  remarkable  for  its  high  pitch, 
clear  piccolo  quality  of  tone,  and  freedom  from  the 
faintest  trace  of  shrillness.  It  ought  to  be  familiar 
to  all  of  us  who  pass  along  the  wooded  road  in  early 
July.  It  usually  comes  from  the  top  of  some  neigh- 
boring hill  thus  : 


Old  Jam  Pea-bo-dy  Pea-bo-dy  Pea-bo-dy. 

Frequently,  however,  I  have  heard  a  shorter  and  ex- 
tremely high,  soft  whistle  thus  :  * 


and  again  the  bird  once  in  a  while  subsides  to  a  more 
persuasive  and  plaintive  call : 


'd  Sam  Peabody    Peabody    Peabody. 


*  The  Peabody  bird  sings  in  several  keys.  I  have  heard  this 
particular  song  in  two  keys,  in  one  of  which  the  four  upper  notes 
were  almost  beyond  the  range  of  my  whistle.  As  I  place  the  limit 
of  that  at  the  third  B  flat  above  middle  C  it  will  at  once  become 
apparent  how  surprisingly  high  this  bird  can  sing. 


WOODLAND  SINGERS.  173 

But  the  Peabody  bird  rarely  sings  later  than 
July ;  he  will  be  heard  as  late  as  this  in  the  vicinity 
of  Mount  "Washington,  whose  wooded  slopes  are  his 
favorite  haunts  (see  the  frontispiece),  and  the  follow- 
ing notes  frequently  disturb 
the  stillness  of  Tuckerman's  .  08vd-*  t>J_ « 
Kavine :  |  fc)  — 

The  best   time  to   hear  the 

song  is  early  in  the  morning.  On  the  whole,  this  is 
the  better  time  to  hear  all  the  bird  songs,  and  who 
rises  with  the  sun  in  late  May  or  early  June  will  be 
favored  by  a  full  orchestra,  the  different  members 
of  which  are  distinctly  recognizable.  Only  detached 
bits  of  the  chorus  can  be  heard  at  sunset,  and  the 
character  of  the  music  is  certainly  not  so  joyous. 


CHAPTEK  XL 

IN  LEAFY  JUNE — GREEN  LEAVES  AND  A  FEW 
BEETLES  AND  BUTTERFLIES. 

RICH  in  emerald -green  foliage  and  cobalt-blue 
skies,  decked  with  the  dainty  pink  of  countless  wild 
roses,  and  attuned  with  the  songs  of  many  birds,  the 
month  of  June  is  the  most  beautiful  one  of  all  the 
year.  To  one  who  can  not  enjoy  the  brilliant  green 
which  adorns  the  roadside  the  aspect  of  Nature  is 
crude  and  lacks  aesthetic  interest.  But  what  a  pity 
not  to  know  that  a  large  part  of  Nature's  beauty  is 
this  very  force  of  color  after  which  the  impressionist 
strives  !  A  picturesque  green  roadside  in  New  Eng- 
land or  Illinois  is  quite  as  available  a  subject  for  an 
impressionist's  picture  as  any  roadside  in  France. 
"We  may  learn  to  tolerate  Nature  in  her  verdant 
robes,  but  we  are  ready  to  quarrel  with  the  artist 
who  in  copying  her  uses  such  vivid,  chalky  greens. 
I  think  I  can  show,  however,  that  the  roadside  is 

painted  with  as  brilliant  colors  as  those  contained  in 

174 


IN  LEAFY  JUNE.  175 

the  paint  box.  Let  us  examine  a  few  which  are  near 
at  hand. 

One  of  the  most  beautiful  bright  light  greens 
which  we  will  see  in  the  swamp  beside  the  road  is 
that  of  the  Indian  poke  (  Veratrum  viride)*  with  its 
spreading,  broad,  corrugated  leaves.  Their  green  is 
a  hundred  tones  lighter  than  that  of  any  tree,  and 
ten  times  purer.  All  the  beauty  of  color  which 
characterizes  this  plant  in  late  May  or  early  June 
will  be  seen  now ;  in  midsummer  it  sends  up  an  un- 
interesting spike  of  green  flowers,  and  shortly  after 
blackens  and  dies. 

Another  beautiful  plant  which  is  sure  to  decorate 
the  river's  brink  this  month  is  the  unfortunate  car- 
rion flower  (Smilax  herbacea\  a  charmingly  decora- 
tive vine  doomed  to  complete  disfavor  because  of  the 
blossom's  putrid  odor.  The  leaves  are  bright,  shiny 
light  green,  and  the  yellow-green  flowers,  now  in 
bloom,  have  very  long  stems  ;  they  are  inconspicuous 
but  pretty.  If,  somewhere  on  the  road,  we  imagine 
we  are  passing  a  dead  rat  and  at  the  same  time  spy  a 
beautiful  vine-covered  thicket,  we  are  justified  in 
arriving  at  but  one  conclusion — carrion  flower  !  The 
vine  I  have  found  very  common  in  northern  New 
Jersey  and  in  the  southwestern  region  of  the  Cats- 

*  Its  roots  yield  a  rank  poison. 


17G    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

kill  Mountains,  near  Dean's  Corners,  JS\  Y.  But  it 
is  common  throughout  the  Northeastern  States. 

As  the  road  climbs  the  slope  from  the  meadows 
and  enters  the  border  of  the  woods,  we  may  happen 
to  see  a  pretty  crimson  magenta  flower  snuggled  be- 
side some  small  deep-green  leaves,  slightly  resembling 
those  of  the  wintergreen.  This  is  the  flowering 
wintergreen  (Polygala  paucifolia),  a  dainty  little 
thing  scarcely  four  inches  above  the  ground,  which 
bears  its  fertile  flower  in  budlike  form  on  a  subter- 
ranean stem.  The  leafage  is  frequently  suffused  with 
ruddy  purple.  Still  another  woodland  flower,  and 
one  which  is  endowed  with  the  daintiest  perfume,  is 
the  twin  flower  (Linn&a  borealis\  whose  creeping 
stems  spread  over  the  stony  ground  in  mossy  woods, 
where  the  sunlight  spots  the  ground  with  yellow- 
green.  The  little  drooping  bell,  scarcely  a  third  of 
an  inch  in  diameter,  is  white  lined  with  crimson-pink. 
The  light-green  leaves  are  small,  round -toothed,  and 
broadly  oval.  The  twin  flower  blooms  after  the 
flowering  wintergreen  ;  the  latter  is  in  its  prime  in 
late  May. 

Two  noxious  plants  which  show  their  bright-green 
leaves  and  greenish  white  flowers  in  June,  are  the 
poison  sumach  (^Rhus  venenata)  and  the  poison  ivy 
(Rhus  toxicodendrori).  Both  of  these  are  harmful  to 
touch,  especially  when  in  bloom.  I  have  drawn  the 


IN  LEAFY  JUNE. 


177 


The 


leaves  of  the  plants  so  that  they  may  be  easily  iden- 
tified. R.  venenata  grows  from  six  to  eighteen  feet 
high  and  bears  a  compound  leaf  com- 
posed of  from  seven  to  thirteen  leaf- 
lets, smooth  and  without  teeth, 
flowers  are  borne  in  loose  pani- 
cles which  grow  out  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  leaf  stem  with  the 
branch.  It.  toxieodendron  is 
a  vine  which  covers  the 
stone  wall  and  frequently 
climbs  to  the  top  of  a  small 
tree.  Its  leaves  are  always 
borne  in  threes,  never  in  fives 
like  those  of  the  Virginia 
creeper.  The  leaflets  are  va- 
riable in  shape,  sometimes 
notched  or  cut-lobed,  but  with 

no  fine  teeth.  They  are  light  green  with  a  waxy 
finish,  and  droop  considerably  about  the  stems.  The 
flowers  are  similar  to  those  of  R.  venenata ;  the 
latter  species  is  most  frequently  encountered  in 
swamps,  but  the  poison  ivy  is  common  on  every 
roadside  in  New  England.  Both  species  bear  clusters 
of  whitish  lead-colored  berries  about  the  size  of  very 
small  peas  ;  they  ripen  in  September.  An  excellent 

remedy  for  poisoning  resulting  from  the  accidental 
13 


Poison  iSuiuacli. 


178    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Poison  Ivy. 


touching  of  these  plants  is  the  binding  of  the  affect- 
ed parts  in  cloths  saturated  with  "  Pond's  extract " 
(Hamamelis).  A  severe  case  should 
be  referred  to  a  physician  at  once. 
It.  venenata  I  have  never  found 
in  the  Pemigewasset  Valley,  but  R. 
toxicodendron  is  on  all  of  the 
meadows  and  many  of  the 
roadsides  there. 

Leaving  these  wretched,  harmful 
plants,  we  may  now  turn  our  atten- 
tion to  their  near  neighbor,  the 
handsome,  spreading  dogbane  (Apo- 
cynum  androscemifolium\  which  is  just  beginning  to 
unfold  its  delicate  pink  -  white  flower  bells.  This 
thin  and  delicate  plant  gives  us  a  refreshing  bit  of 
sober  blue-green  in  wide  contrast  with  its  surround- 
ings. Its  leaves  are  not  glossy,  but  characterized  by 
what  a  painter  would  call  a  "  dead  finish."  The 
beautiful  flowers,  similar  in  shape  to  lily  of  the  val- 
leys or  twin  flowers,  are  daintily  tinged  with  pink ; 
if  we  pick  a  cluster,  the  stem  exudes  a  sticky,  milk- 
white  juice.  This  plant  will  not  reach  its  prime 
until  July,  and  then  we  may  hunt  through  its  leaves 
for  the  most  beautiful  little  beetle  which  ever  fa- 
vored the  roadside  with  its  presence.  This  jewel  of 
a  creature  is  called  the  dogbane  beetle  (Chrysochus 


IN  LEAFY  JUNE. 


179 


auratus).  He  is  one  of  the  commonest  insects  of 
the  roadside,  but  he  is  so  very  small  (less  than  half 
an  inch  long)  that  we  must  not  expect  to  catch  sight 
of  him  at  "  long  range."  Holding  one  in  the  hand 
and  scrutinizing  him  under  the  glass,  we  will  find 
him  a  variety  of  brilliant  me- 
tallic hues,  according  to 
the  way  the  light  strikes 
his  back,  ranging  from 
orange  through  red  to 
purple,  and  from  violet 
through  blue  and  peacock 
blue  to  green.  I  col- 
lected as  many  as  a 
dozen  of  these  beetles 
last  summer  from  as 
many  dogbane  bushes  ;- 
their  beauty  and  jew- 
el-like brilliancy  can 
only  be  appreciated  by  the  help  of  a  low-power  mi- 
croscope. A  good  test  of  the  incom parable  finish  of 
Nature's  work  is  to  place  beside  the  beetle  a  ring  set 
with  a  ruby.  I  think  the  comparison  will  demon- 
strate the  immeasurable  superiority  of  Nature  over 
man  in  the  capacity  of  an  "  art  worker." 

The  roadside  in  the  month  of  June  is  thickly  em- 
broidered with  still  other  lusterless  but  ornamental 


Dogbane  Beetle. 


180    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

leaves.  We  can  not  proceed  a  dozen  feet  along  the 
highway  without  passing  at  least  two  species  of 
clover.  The  red  clover  (Trifolium  pratense)  is  that 
commonest  of  all  kinds,  which  bears  on  the  face  of 
the  leaflet  the  looplike  band  of  whitish  green.  It  is 
largely  dependent  upon  the  pollen-dusty  bumblebee 
for  fertilization  ;  the  crimson-red  florets  have  such 
deep  tubes  that  only  the  bumblebee  with  her  long 
tongue  succeeds  in  reaching  the  nectar  in  their 
depths.*  The  honeybee  is  only  partially  success- 
ful ;  her  tongue  is  too  short,  and  she  never  attacks  a 
blossom  with  the  burly  vigor  and  dauntless  purpose 
of  the  bumblebee.  The  other  common  species  is  the 
white  clover  (Trifolium  repens\  none  other  than  the 
shamrock  of  Ireland.  I  have  before  me  as  1  write 
a  cluster  of  the  tiny  leaves  which  but  recently  came 
from  the  Emerald  Isle ;  they  are  quite  like  our  own 
white  clover,  but  smaller.  We  can  hardly  claim  an 
American  origin  for  this  species,  as  Gray  says  it  is 
indigenous  only  in  the  Northern  part  of  our  range  if 
at  all.  As  for  the  red  clover,  that  also  came  to  us 
from  Europe.  The  white  clover,  which  is  extremely 
abundant  along  the  grassy  borders  of  the  roads  in 


*  The  first  red  clover  which  was  imported  into  Australia  failed 
to  produce  seed  ;  the  flowers  were  entirely  dependent  upon  the 
bumblebee  for  fertilization,  so  the  insect  had  to  be  imported  also 
for  this  especial  purpose. 


IN  LEAFY  JUNE.  181 

Yermont  and  central  New  Hampshire,  rarely  grows 
over  four  inches  high.  The  sweetest  smelling  clover 
I  know  of  is  that  called  alsike  clover  (Trifolium  hy- 
bridum),  which  strongly  resembles  the  white  kind, 
and  which  is  rapidly  becoming  a  familiar  object  on 
our  highways.  It  has  taller  and  more  erect  stems, 
the  flower  heads  are  larger,  tinged  with  flesh  pink 
and  rose  pink,  and  it  does  not  take  root  as  the  other 
clovers  do  at  that  part  of.  the  stem  where  the  leaves 
branch  out.  This  species  also  comes  from  Europe. 

In  the  latter  part  of  June  the  opening  blossoms 
of  the  little  yellow  hop  clover  (Trifolium  agrarium) 
begin  to  spot  the  grassy  borders  with  their  delicate 
color.  This  rather  upright  plant  would  scarcely  be 
taken  for  a  clover,  as  its  trifoliate  leaf  is  the  only 
strongly  marked  family  characteristic.  The  tiny, 
pale-yellow  blossoms  are  scarcely  larger  than  one's 
thumb  nail,  and  the  leaflets  are  nearly  stemless.  Hop 
clover  grows  from  six  to  twelve  inches  high  and  is 
generally  found  on  the  sandy  roadside. 

One  other  species  is  also  just  beginning  to  flower ; 
this  is  the  yellow  melilot  or  sweet  clover  (Melilotus 
offi'Cinalis),  whose  leaves  become  sweet-scented  in 
drying.  It  may  be  distinguished  from  the  foregoing 
species  by  the  blunt-toothed  leaflets  growing  from 
pronounced  stems.  The  plant  grows  from  one  to  two 
and  sometimes  four  feet  high ;  it  is  common  in  waste 


182    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

places.  The  two  yellow  clovers  also  come  to  us  from 
Europe.  Yeiy  probably  we  will  see  at  no  great  dis- 
tance from  these  plants  the  purple  blossoms  of  the 
self-heal  (Brunella  vulgaris\  an  omnipresent  little 
weed  which  decorates  the  roadside  from  June  to 
October.  We  can  not  fail  to  recognize  it  during  the 
summer,  as  it  is  the  only  low-growing,  common  pur- 
ple wild  flower  which  is  in  bloom  for  fully  four 
months  of  the  year. 

Adorning  the  stone  wall  and  crowning  the  crowd- 
ed thicket  in  some  moist  spot  beside  the  river  brink 
in  late  June,  we  will  be  sure  to  see  the  delicate  pink- 
ish flowers  and  arrowhead-shaped  leaves  of  the  hedge 

bindweed  (Convolvulus  sepi- 
ujti).      This  remarkable  vine 
twines   and    trails    its   wiry 
stems  over  everything  within 
reach,  and  ties  up  all  the 

Golden  Beetle.     ^^        fag  ends   and  fraJed  edg68 

of    the  roadside   foliage  in 

spiral  bunches  of  green  and  pink  beauty.  The 
flowers  are  so  much  like  morning-glories  that  we 
can  not  fail  to  recognize  them,  and  the  fresh  green 
leaves  are  among  the  most  beautiful  and  shining  ones 
of  June.  Somewhat  later,  in  July,  we  may  have  the 
good  luck  to  find  on  this  vine  a  little  opalescent, 
golden  beetle,  called  the  Cassida  aurichalcea,  or 


IN  LEAFY  JUNE. 


183 


Coptocycla  ~bicolor\  it  is  scarcely  over  a  quarter  of 
an  inch  long,  and  is  usually  hidden  on  the  under 
part  of  the  leaf.  But  once  with  the  beautiful  beetle 
in  our  hand  and  under  the  magic  magnifying  glass, 
we  realize  that  we  have  captured  a  tiny  gem  of  Na- 
ture which  has  no  equal  in  the  jeweler's  window  on 
Broadway.  His  shell  is  resplendent  gold,  but  in  a 
few  moments  it  has  become  milky  and  appears  more 
like  a  yellowish  opal ;  then  it  changes  to  a  greenish 
yellowish  white,  and  finally,  when  we 
look  at  it  again,  it  is  pale  rusty 
gold.  But  this  remarkable 
gem  of  a  beetle  is  beau- 
tiful only  in  life ;  when 
he  dies  his  color  van- 
ishes. 

Another  splen- 
did and  common 

,  ,         ,          .     , ,  f  Goldsmith  Beetle. 

golden  bug  is  the     ( 

goldsmith  beetle  (Cotalpa  lanigera),  which  still 
later  in  the  season  we  may  succeed  in  capturing  on 
the  under  side  of  a  willow  leaf  ;  he  is  about  seven 
eighths  of  an  inch  long.  This  beetle  is  abroad  at 
night  and  sometimes  ventures  in  an  open  door,  lured 
by  the  brilliant  lamplight  within  ;  but  in  daytime 
he  hides  himself  completely  among  the  clusters  of 
fresh  green  leaves  at  the  tips  of  young  branchlets. 


184:    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

His  back  is  bright  yellowish  gold,  sometimes  of  a 
milky  tone  ;  beneath  he  is  copper-color,  covered  with 
fine  whitish  hairs. 

In  a  partially  shaded  spot  beside  the  covered 
bridge  which  crosses  the  shallow  mountain  stream 
we  may  be  favored  by  the  sight  of  many  golden 
flower  clusters  of  the  wild  parsnip  (Pastinaca  sa- 
tiva\  or  those  of  its  near  relative,  the  early  meadow 
parsnip  (Zizia  aurea).  In  some  damp  spot  near  the 
river — on  the  meadow  perhaps — these  tall  weeds  are 
sure  to  appear  in  June.  Their  favorite  attendant  is 
the  black,  yellow-spotted  butterfly  (Papilio  asteri- 
as)*  sometimes  called  the  "  black  swallowtail."  This 
is  one  of  the  commonest  and  prettiest  butterflies 
which  visit  the  roadside  flowers.  Its  wings  are 
marked  with  a  double  row  of  yellow  spots ;  there 
are  also  yellow  and  bluish  marks  on  the  hind  wings 
as  well,  and  these  are  swallow-tail  pointed.  This 
butterfly  invariably  chooses  some  member  of  the 
Parsley  family,  on  the  leaves  of  which  it  prefers  to 
lay  its  eggs.  The  caterpillar  is  pea-green,  naked,  and 
about  two  inches  long. 

The  monarch,  or  tawny  orange  butterfly  (Anosia 
plexippus)^  which  is  also  commonly  seen  on  the 

*  Papilio  polyxenes,  Scudder. 

f  Also  called    Danais  archippus  and   Danais  erippns.      Its 
powers  of  flight  exceed  those  of  any  other  butterfly.    It  migrates 


SHELVING  ROCK,    MADISON, 
JEFFERSON    CO.,    INDIANA'. 

THE   BLACK    SWALLOW-TAILED 
BUTTERFLY. 


IN  LEAFY  JUNE. 


185 


highway,  whose  beautiful  wings,  measuring  four 
inches  across,  are  bound  and  veined  with  black, 
white-spotted,  has  a  decided  preference  for  members 
of  the  milkweed  tribe,  but  not  in- 
frequently we  find  it  hovering 
over  the  dainty  pink  blossoms  of 
the  dogbane  (also  a  milky  juiced 
plant).  However,  the  common 
milkweed  (Asclepias  Cornuti] 
is  its  favored  plant,  and  on 
the  upright  budding  leaves 
it  lays  its  eggs  singly.  The 
caterpillar  of  this  butterfly 
is  black  and  yellow  banded, 
naked,  and  nearly  two  inches 
long.  How  handsome  this 

very  ordinary  milkweed  is  in  sunny  June,  when 
its  pale-green  color  is  dashed  with  misty  lilac-blue 
shadows,  and  its  gesthetic  brown-lavender  flower  clus- 
ter is  accented  by  the  rich  coloring  on  the  wings  of 
the  monarch  butterfly,  no  one  can  fail  to  remark.  It 
is  one  of  those  few  striking  plants  which  are  emphati- 
cally decorative  under  all  conditions  and  in  all  sea- 
sons. 

Fluttering  over  the   little   puddles  on   the   road 


Anosia  plexippus. 


in  autumn  and  flies  southward  in  swarms  as  the  birds  do. 
body  of  this  butterfly  has  a  rank  odor. 


The 


186    FAMILIAR  FEATURES   OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

which  are  left  after  the  rain,  a  half  dozen  small  yel- 
low butterflies  appear,  dispersing  ae  we  approach,  but 
soon  returning  to  continue  their  dance  in  midair  as 
soon  as  our  backs  are  turned ;  these  are  the  Colias 
Philodice*  which  in  the  caterpillar  state  live  on  the 
leaves  of  the  clovers.  The  caterpillar  is  an  inch  long 
and  grass-green  ;  we  will  generally  see  it  stretched 
along  the  stem  of  a  clover  leaf.  I  have  drawn  the 
yellow  butterfly  beside  the  pretty  vista  which  it 
might  have  seen  if  it  had  not  devoted  itself  so  ex- 
clusively to  the  uninteresting  puddle  in  the  middle  of 
the  road.  The  view  is  of  one  of  the  southern  Cats- 
kill  Mountains,  called  Big  Indian,  not  very  far  from 
Shandaken. 

The  little  white  butterfly  which  we  may  occasion- 
ally see  is  called  the  cabbage  but- 
terfly (Pisris  rapce).\  This  is 
the  plague  of  the  farmer,  for  its 
green  caterpillar  bores  to  the 
heart  of  his  cabbages.  The  esrsrs 

o  oo 

are  laid  on  the  under  side  of  the 
leaves  and  hatched  in  about  ten 
days  ;  the  caterpillars  then  feed  upon  the  young 
green  leaves  for  about  twenty  days,  at  the  ex- 


*  Eurymus  Philodice,  Scudder. 

f  First  introduced  into  this  country  in  New  York,  1868. 


BIG   INDIAN,   CATSKILL 
MOUNTAINS, 
ULSTER  CO.,    N.  Y. 

YELLOW   BUTTERFLY, 
COLIAS    PHILODICE. 


IN  LEAFY  JUNE.  1ST 

piration  of  which  time  they  have  gorged  sufficient 
raw  cabbage  to  attain  a  length  of  one  and  a  half 
inches.  Then  they  leave  the  garden  and  resort  to 
the  rocks  or  the  fence,  and  spin  thereon  a  tuft  of  silk 
in  which  they  place  their  hind  feet ;  a  loop  is  then 
spun  in  which  they  hang  by  the  neck.  After  eleven 
or  twelve  days  have  elapsed  the 
green  worm  has  become  a  white 
butterfly,  ready  to  begin  on 
the  cabbage  patch  again  !  I 
never  see  a  white  butter- 
fly without  a  picture 
arising  in  my  mind 
of  a  certain  indig- 
nant farmer,  who 
never  missed  an  oppor- 
tunity of  flapping  at 
one  with  his  old  gray  Papilio  turnus. 

felt  hat,  which  the  butterfly  always  managed  to  evade. 
One  of  our  largest  and  most  beautiful  butterflies 
is  the  pale  corn-yellow  and  rusty  black  one  (the  up- 
per parts  of  the  wings  are  marked  with  four  descend- 
ing black  bars),  with  swallow-tailed  wings,  called  the 
tiger  swallowtail  (Papilio  turnus)*  This  hand- 
some creature  frequently  measures  four  and  a  half 

*  Jasoniades  glaucus,  Scudder. 


188    FAMILIAR  FEATURES   OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

inches  from  one  wing  tip  to  the  other.  It  soars  even 
above  the  trees  and  takes  to  the  broad  expanse  of 
sky  as  the  yellowbird  does.  The  caterpillar  lives  in 
the  orchard  and  feeds  upon  the  leaves  of  the  fruit 
trees,  or  resorts  to  the  birch,  poplar,  and  ash.  It  is 
two  inches  long,  fat  and  green,  with  rows  of  bluish 
dots  and  black  and  yellow  markings,  and  the  head 
and  feet  are  pink-tinged.  Early  in  August  this 
caterpillar  tires  of  life  and  "hangs "  itself  in  a 
leaf  cradle  bound  together  by  silken  cords ;  the  fol- 
lowing summer  it  resumes  life  in  the  form  of  a 
gorgeous  velvety  winged  butterfly.  I  often  see  the 
handsome  creature  perched  on  top  of  the  pasture 
thistle,  but  according  to  the  rules  of  entomology  I 
believe  it  has  no  right  to  be  there.  Yet  I  under- 
stand that  the  thistle  is  favored  by  many  broad- 
winged  visitors,  chief  among  which  is  our  yellow 
friend  Colias  Philodice. 

Those  tiny  little  butterflies,  which  flit  about  with 
an  uncertain  motion,  but  a  short  distance,  from  one 
blossom  to  another,  are  called  "  skippers  "  (Hesperia). 
They  are  generally  marked  and  spotted  red -brown  and 
yellow,  and  proceed  from  small  caterpillars  which 
wind  themselves  up  in  leaves  drawn  together  by 
silken  threads.  The  skipper  butterfly  will  scarcely 
measure  an  inch  across  with  wings  extended  ;  it  also 
frequents  the  pasture  thistle.  A  very  common  spe- 


IN  LEAFY  JUNE.  189 

eies  is  Hesperia  Pocahontas  (Airy tone  zabulon^  Scud- 
der),  sometimes  called  the  Mormon.  Its  wings  are 
blackish  brown,  marked  in  the  center  with  tawny 
orange-brown.  It  is  very  abundant  in  early  June, 
and  feeds  and  nests  among  the  roadside  grasses. 

The  leafy  month  of  June  is  glorious  in  the  abso- 
lute purity  and  diversity  of  its  greens.  Look  at  that 
shining  white-stemmed  tree  yonder ;  it  is  the  gray 
birch,  whose  pea-green,  varnished  leaves  flash  the  sun- 
light through  the  intervening  branches  of  the  brown 
and  rugged  pine,  until  the  sparkling  color  dazzles  the 
eyes.  At  the  farther  side  of  the  road  is  a  thicket 
of  speckled  alder ;  its  color  is  deep  somber  olive. 
Look  at  the  tips  of  the  red  maple  near  by,  and  note 
the  pinkish  green  of  the  yet  immature  leaves.  Here 
is  a  baby  red  oak ;  its  large  leaf  is  deep  olive- 
green,  its  budding  leaf  is  bright  red.  Yonder  is  a 
white  poplar ;  how  remarkable  is  its  flickering,  pale 
color ! 

If  we  are  fortunate  enough  to  see  the  splendid 
yellowwood  (Cladra.stis  tinctorid)  in  full  bloom 
toward  the  end  of  the  month,  we  will  think  that 
it  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  trees  of  June.  No 
apple  tree  of  May  in  snowiest  array  can  equal  it, 
for  there  is  little  of  grace  in  the  gnarled  apple,  and 
naught  but  grace  in  the  yellowwood.  So  rich  is 
it  in  nectar,  too,  that  all  the  insects  from  the  sur- 


190    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

rounding    country   congregate   in   a   busy,   buzzing, 
fluttering  swarm  to  gather  the  fragrant  sweet. 

Another  beautiful  tree  is  the  yellow  chestnut 
oak  (Quercus  JM.uhlenbergii\  whose  yellowish  green 
leaves  reflect  an  amber  light  and  cast  misty  lilac- 
blue  shadows.  These  are  the  brilliant  colors  which 
the  impressionist  sees  and  endeavors  to  portray  on 
his  canvas.  It  is  one  thing  to  paint  a  well-composed 
landscape,  but  it  is  quite  another  to  paint  the  vivid 
sunlight  and  the  emerald  foliage  of  June.  What 
wonder  then  that  the  painting  which  the  artist 
brings  directly  from  sunlit  Nature  dazzles  our  eyes  ! 
It  is  a  fact  that  we  are  too  timid  to  look  Nature 
square  in  the  face  when  she  is  decked  in  her  live- 
liest colors ;  we  are  afraid  of  them,  and  are  in  no 
mood  to  dance  to  such  lively  piping.  We  like  bril- 
liant colors  best  in  tiny  bits  like  those  of  the  green, 
yellow-spotted  beetle  (Buprestis  fasciata)  which  I 
have  drawn  below ;  his  gorgeous  emerald  back  often 
decorates  the  roadside  fence,  and  it  is  exempt  from 
criticism. 


Buprestis  fasciata. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    TALL    MIDSUMMER   WEEDS — MEMBERS    OF    THE 
COMPOSITE    FAMILY. 

IN  the  warm  days  of  August  most  of  the  singing 
amid  the  treetops  has  ceased,  and  life  has  taken  on 
a  different  aspect  for  both  bird  and  man.  Every 
winged  dweller  in  wood  and  meadow  finds  food 
in  plenty,  with  never  a  hungry  bill  to  fill  beyond 
his  own.  We  listen  to  the  grasshoppers'  summer 
symphony  and  count  it  a  signal  for  relaxation,  an 
audible  proof  of  the  fact  that  the  time  has  come 
when  it  is  too  hot  to  do  anything  but  keep  quiet. 
Nature,  however,  does  not  idle,  nor  does  she  slacken 
her  energy  in  time  of  heat ;  the  borders  of  the  high- 
way are  the  best  evidence  of  this  fact.  At  no  time 
of  the  year  are  the  hedges  and  thickets  so  crowded 
with  luxuriant  and  rank  vegetation,  nor  have  we 
seen  until  now  such  an  aggregation  of  tall,  striking 
weeds.  The  margin  of  the  highway  in  May  was  flat 
and  empty  compared  with  its  present  aspect.  Now, 
on  the  edge  of  the  meadow  and  at  the  side  of  the 

191 


192    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


road,  a  midsummer  family  has  taken  up  its  quarters, 
most  of  whose  members  are  sufficiently  tall  to  look 
over  the  fence.  Many  of  them  measure  three  and 
four  feet,  and  several  six  and 
even  twelve  feet  in  height. 
These  magnificent  weeds  are 
nearly  all  members  of  the 
great  Composite  family,  the 
records  of  which  occupy  a 
large  section  of  Gray's  Man- 
ual. 

The  first  familiar  flower 
which  Gray  mentions  is  the 
ironweed  ( Vernonia  Nove- 
J)oracensis) ;  this  is  common 
near  the  seashore.  It  grows 
from  three  to  five  feet  high, 
and  its  clusters  of  purplish 
magenta  flowers,  from  which 
the  bees  gather  quite  a  little 
honey,  somewhat  resemble  tiny 
sweet  sultans  or  bachelor's  but- 
tons ;  but  it  is  a  rude,  stocky,  useless  weed,  with 
a  stout,  hard  stem  which  cumbers  the  ground.  It 
blooms  in  August.  Next  come  the  Eupatori- 
ums,  a  coarse  tribe  not  without  some  saving,  use- 
ful qualities.  Boneset  (Eupatorium  perfoliatum) 


THE  TALL  MIDSUMMER   WEEDS. 


193 


is  perhaps   the   best-known   member  of  this   group, 

and  we   can   always   tell   it   by   the   way  the   stem 

seems    to    perforate    the    opposite  -  growing    leaves 

which  taper  to  a  point.     The 

flowers  are  dull  white,  small, 

and  uninteresting.     The  plant 

grows  from  two  to  four  feet 

high  and  has  a  coarse  hairy 

stem.      It  is   a   bitter  herb, 

whose    medicinal    properties 

we  are  well  acquainted  with, 

but    one    whose    flowers    we 

would  never  suspect  the  bee 

finds    stored   with    honey; 

such  is  the  case,  however. 

Joe-Pye  weed  (Eupcuto- 
rium  purpureum)  is  an- 
other tall  relation  with  dull 

pinkish  flowers.  The  leaves  are  very  rough  and 
veiny,  and  the  simple,  stout  stem  grows  from  two 
to  twelve  feet  high.  This  is  rather  an  aspiring 
weed,  which  furnishes  the  lowland  landscape  in  sum- 
mer with  the  most  consummately  aesthetic  pink  tone 
which  it  is  possible  to  imagine.  A  good  patch  of 
Joe-Pye  weed  under  a  hazy  August  sky  produces  one 
of  those  delicious  bits  of  cool  pink,  set  in  dull  sage- 
green,  such  as  an  impressionist  likes  to  paint.  The 
14 


Bonesct. 


194    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

commonest  weed  by  the  roadside  becomes  one  of  the 
most  beautiful  tilings  in  the  world  when  the  strength 
of  its  color  is  portrayed  on  the  impressionist's  can- 
vas. We  may  look  at  it  skeptically,  but  the  artist 
reveals  a  real  not  an  imagined  beauty,  which  all  of 
us  have  eyes  to  see  quite  as  well  as  he. 

If  the  general  color  effect  of  Joe-Pye  weed  is 
attractive,  the  delicate  beauty  of  white  snakeroot 
(Eupatorium  ageratoides)  is  greater. 
This  beautiful  weed  grows  beside 
nearly  every  woodland  road  in 
the  North.  The  flowers  are 
dainty  copies  of  the  soft,  wool- 
ly blossoms  of  the  ageratum 
in  our  gardens  ;  the  leaves  are 
ovate-pointed,  long-stemmed, 
and  coarse-toothed.  The 
whole  character  of  the 
plant  is  smooth, 
not  hairy,  and  its 
slenderer  stems 

White  Snakeroot. 

grow   from    three 

to  four  feet  high.     It  is  one  of  the  refined  members 

of  the  Eupatoriwn  family  group. 

Passing  the  multitudinous  golden-rods  and  asters, 
to  the  most  important  of  which  I  have  devoted  a 
chapter  further  on,  we  come  to  two  of  the  common- 


THE  TALL  MIDSUMMER  WEEDS.  195 

est  shorter  weeds  of  the  roadside :  these  are  robin's 
plantain  (Erigeron  bellidifolius)  and  daisy  fleabane 
(Erigeron  strigosus).  The  former  looks  like  a  blue 
aster  out  of  season ;  it  blooms  in  May  and  June 
along  moist  banks  and  shaded  byways.  The  latter 
appears  like  a  miniature  aster,  either  perfectly  white 
or  slightly  tinged  purple  ;  it  blooms  from  early  June 
to  late  September.  Both  of  these  plants  grow,  at 
most,  not  over  twenty  inches  high.  The  sweet  scabi- 
ous (Erigeron  annuus\  however,  is  a  plant  with  a 
more  imposing  presence.  It  is  a  tall  weed,  usually 
three  and  sometimes  five  feet  high,  with  a  stout, 
much-branched  stem  beset  with  little  hairs,  and  nar- 
row upper,  but  broader  lower  (coarsely  toothed)  leaves. 
The  white  or  purplish  flowers  have  short  rays  and 
broad,  dull -yellow  centers.  This  is  a  very  common 
weed  in  the  waste  places  beside  the  road,  and  one 
which  I  often  find  in  company  with  the  coarse  bur- 
dock. 

Next  among  our  tall  weeds  (but  these  are  not  so 
very  tall)  are  the  familiar  white  everlastings.  Pearly 
everlasting  (Anaphalis  margaritacea)  is  quite  the 
handsomest  species.  It  grows  from  one  to  two  feet 
high,  and  the  stem  is  leafy  to  the  top  which  expands 
in  a  large,  broad  head  of  white  flowers.  The  best 
way  to  distinguish  this  species  from  the  common 
ones  is  to  examine  the  little  petals  (really  scales  of 


196    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


the  involucre)  under  the  magnifying  glass ;  if  these 
are  white,  obtuse,  and  rounded,  radiating  with  age, 
the  flower  is  that  of  the  pearly  species ;  if  they  are 
ovate  and  oblong  but  still  obtuse,  the  flower  is  one  of 
the  species  Gnaphalium  polycephalum ;  if  they  are 
yellowish  white,  oval,  and  pointed,  the  flower  is  that 
of  G.  decurrens.  Other  differences 
between  the  three  species,  all  of 
which  are  common  on  our 
roadsides  which  pass  the  hill- 
side pastures,  are  these  :  G. 
polycephalum  grows  from  one 
to  three  feet  high  and  is  fra- 
grant ;  its  leaves  are  lance-shaped 
with  narrowed  base  and 
wavy  margins,  the  upper 
surface  free  from  wooliness. 
G.  decurrens  grows  about  two 
feet  high,  and  its  narrower  leaves 
partly  clasp  and  extend  down  the 
stem ;  they  are  cottony  on  both  sides. 
The  leaves  of  A.  margaritacea  are  long, 
lance-shaped,  quite  green  above,  and  they 
clasp  the  stem. 

Another  familiar  wayside  weed,  one 
of  those  tramps  long  since  arrived  from 
Europe  but  still  "  on  the  road,"  is  elecampane  (Inula 


Elecampane. 


THE   LOWLANDS. 
JOE-PYE  WEED. 


THE  TALL  MIDSUMMER  WEEDS.  107 

Helenium).  This  is  a  tall,  stout  herb,  with  stems 
from  three  to  five  feet  high,  whose  mucilaginous  roots 
have  been  used  as  a  horse  medicine.  The  flowers  are 
yellow  with  extremely  narrow  rays  and  coarse  yellow 
disks ;  the  leaves  are  large  and  woolly  beneath,  the 
upper  ones  clasping  the  stem  slightly,  and  the  lower 
ones  distinctly  stemmed.  Elecampane  is  usually  found 
on  damp  ground  where  the  road  passes  the  swamp,  in 
which  thousands  of  grasshoppers  and  crickets  swell 
the  grand  chorus  of  a  midsummer  day's  song.  The 
drowsy  music  is  not  easily  separated  in  my  mind  from 
a  weedy  wilderness  of  burdock,  golden -rod,  and  ele- 
campane ;  for  that  matter  we  do  not  have  to  peer 
beyond  the  topmost  leaves  of  the  latter  plant  to  see 
a  musician  or  two ;  undoubtedly,  if  we  look  sharp, 
we  will  behold  a  grasshopper  (more  properly  speak- 
ing, a  locust)  sitting  contentedly  on  his  high  perch,  a 
listener  if  not  a  performer.  His  name  is  Melano- 
plus  bivittatus,  and  he  with  his  red-legged  cousin, 
Melanoplus  femur-rubum,  the  commonest  of  our 
field  locusts  or  grasshoppers,  finds  the  succulent 
leaf  of  the  Inula  furnishes  a  very  delectable  luncheon 
in  the  middle  of  a  hot  day.  These  two  insects  are 
always  perched  on  the  big,  dusty  leaves  of  the  road- 
side. I  have  never  seen  either  of  them  alight  and 
sit  still ;  they  always  turn  at  least  a  quarter  of  the 
way  around,  and  thus  make  sure  of  covering  the 


198   FAMILIAR  FEATURES    OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

four  points   of   the  compass   in   as   many  acrobatic 
leaps. 

We  now  come  to  the  tallest  member  of  the  Com- 
posite family,  the  ragweed  (Ambrosia  trifida\  which 
grows   from   four  to  twelve   and   occa- 
sionally eighteen  feet  high.      This  ex- 
traordinary plant  is  commonly  found 
in    waste   places.      Its  tall,  straight 
stem  with  large,  deeply  three-lobed 
leaves  and  terminal  stalks  of  green- 
ish   flowers   is   one   of    the  most 
striking  things  of  the  highway  bor- 
der.     In  the  fall,  if  a  dried   dead 
stalk   is   broken,  we  will    find   it 
contains    an    unsubstantial    white 
pith  with  a  sheen  like  frostwork. 
The  tall  and  slender  but  stout-stemmed 
ragweed  when  growing  in  damp,  rich 
soil,  often  shoots  beyond  the   twelve- 
foot  mark.      I  have   found  one  speci- 
men which  measured  over  thirteen  feet, 
and  William   Hamilton  Gibson    records 
one   that   measured   eighteen   feet   four 
inches. 

Black-eyed  Susan  (Rudbehia  hirta) 
is  the  next   flower  which   engages    our 
The  Eagweed..  attention  ;   its  deep  golden,  orange-yel- 


THE  TALL  MIDSUMMER  WEEDS.  199 

low  rays  and  its  purple-brown  "  cone  "  are  familiar 
to  us  all.  But  few  of  the  flowers  are  left  by  mid- 
summer— they  were  in  their  prime  in  early  July. 
It  is  not  a  tall  plant — rarely  a  few  stems  stand  two 
feet  high.  Our  common  garden  sunflower  (Helian- 
thus  annuus)  is  a  near  relative  of  Rudbekia.  An 
allied  species  often  found  on  the  roadsides  of  the 
North  and  East  is  Helianthus  giganteus,  a  small 
flower  with  bright-yellow  rays  and  a  fairly  good 
yellow  center ;  this  prefers  the  shaded 
nooks  and  corners  of  fields  and  wood- 
lands. Not  far  from  the  sunflower, 
perhaps  in  some  moist  spot  near  a 
passing  brook,  we  may  find  we  have 
come  in  contact  with  the  troublesome 
weed  named  beggar-ticks  (Bidens  fron- 
dosa) ;  wherever  we  have  touched  the 
plant  our  clothing  is  covered  with  its  ex- 
.ceedingly  tenacious,  two  -  pronged  seed 
vessels.  The  insignificant  flowers  are  Beggar-ticks, 
rayless,  and  rusty  yellow  in  tone,  and 
the  leaves  have  from  three  to  five  divisions.  This 
uncomfortable  roadside  weed  is  from  two  to  six  feet 
high ;  it  blooms  from  June  to  October. 

Also  in  the  wet  ground  there  is  every  chance  of 
finding  (at  least  as  far  North  as  Pennsylvania  and 
Connecticut)  the  budding  stems  of  the  tall  sneeze- 


200    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Sneezeweed. 


weed  (Hdenium  autumnale),  which  may  be  from  one 
to  six  feet  high.  The  flowers,  about  half  an  inch 
broad,  are  yellow-rayed  and  have 
duller  yellow  disks ;  sometimes  the 
brighter  rays  droop.  The  leaves 
are  lance-shaped  and  toothed.  This 
weed  blooms  in  September. 

Along  our  roadsides  in  the 
East  is  a  common  European  weed 
whose  white-rayed  flowers  closely 
resemble  daisies ;  this  is  the  May- 
weed or  chamomile  (Anthemis  Cotu- 
la).  Its  finely  cut  leaves  and  small 
flower  heads,  with  yellow  centers  in 
high  relief,  are  sufficient  means  for  its  recognition ; 
but,  by  bruising  the  leaves  the  strong  familiar  odor 
of  chamomile  proves  the  identity  of  the  low-grow- 
ing plant  beyond  a  doubt.  The  common  daisy  (Chry- 
santhemum LeucantJiemum)  we  may  find  still  in 
bloom  beside  the  chamomile. 

Golden  ragwort  or  squawweed  (Senecio  aureus) 
is  common  in  the  lowlands,  and  blooms  as  early 
as  May  or  June.  It  grows  from  one  to  three 
feet  high,  has  a  very  variable  leaf,  and  bears  pret- 
ty golden-yellow  flowers  which  look  like  small, 
deep  yellow  daisies.  It  is  one  of  the  first  mem- 
bers of  the  Composite  family  to  bloom,  and  we 


THE  TALL  MIDSUMMER  WEEDS.  201 

will  hardly  find   a  flower  left   by  the   first   of   Au- 
gust. 

If  we  should  happen  to  pass  a  wooded  clearing 
which  has  been  burned  over,  here  we  will  see  the 
coarse,  heavy,  grooved  stems  of  the  fire- 
weed  (Erechtites  hieracifolia\  with  its 
alternate,  lance  -  shaped,  cut  -  toothed 
leaves  waving  in  the  passing  breeze. 
The  stem  grows  from  one  to  five  feet 
high  and  terminates  in  an  ample 
panicle  of  small  white  flowers 
somewhat  tubular  in  shape.  It 
is  a  rank-smelling  (often  hairy 
stemmed)  weed  of  unattractive 
appearance.  But  quite  its 
equal  in  disagreeable  odor  is  the 
common  burdock  (Arctium  Lap- 
pa\  which  one  invariably  finds  in 
the  waste  ground  beside  some  old, 
abandoned  farmhouse.  Every  one 

Fireweed. 

knows  how  tenacious  the  little  hooked 
tips  of  the  burs  are ;  children  frame  baskets  with 
the  clinging  things,  and  those  who  visit  the  deserted 
house  on  the  neglected  byway,  usually  carry  away 
numerous  burry  souvenirs  of  the  occasion  on  their 
clothing.  But  burdock  has  an  aesthetic  if  not  a 
homely  interest,  for  the  artist  finds  it  an  indispen- 


202    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

sable  and  picturesque  accompaniment  of  the  "old 
farmhouse  "  which  is  the  theme  of  his  picture. 

The  Canada  thistle  (Cnicus  arvensis)  is  another 
dweller  in  the  highway  and  the  pasture  which  came 
to  us  from  Europe.  Gray  calls  it  "a  vile  pest  in 
fields  and  meadows."  The  flower  heads  are  not 
more  than  an  inch  long  and  very  numerous ;  the 
tips  are  lilac-magenta. 

The  common  thistle  (Cnicus  lanceolatus\  with 
the  large  and  handsome  flower,  is  also  naturalized 
from  Europe.  The  base  of  the  deeply  cut  leaf  runs 
down  the  stem  in  prickly  wings  ;  the  flowers  are  also 
lilac-magenta.  Our  tallest  thistle  (C.  altissimus)  is 
common  in  copses  and  on  the  borders  of  the  road 
and  field  from  Massachusetts  to  Minnesota  and 
Southward.  Its  stem,  from  three  to  ten  feet  high, 
is  leafy  quite  to  the  flower  head,  which  is  purple  or 
rarely  white,  and  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  inches 
long.  The  leaves  are  very  woolly  beneath,  wavy, 
and  the  topmost  ones  are  not  very  deeply  cut.  This 
species  is  indigenous.  On  sandy  roads  near  the 
coast,  from  Massachusetts  to  Virginia,  is  a  yellow 
thistle  (C.  horridulus),  with  a  stout  stem  one  to  three 
feet  high,  partly  clasping,  smooth,  green,  yellow- 
prickled  leaves  and  flower  heads,  about  two  inches 
long  and  an  inch  and  a  half  broad,  yellow,  or  rare- 
ly purple-topped,  and  surrounded  at  the  base  by  a 


THE  TALL  MIDSUMMER  WEEDS.  203 

circle  of  prickly  leaflets  (bracts).  This  species  is  also 
indigenous.  In  early  September  we  will  probably 
see  the  little  yellowbird  picking  at  the  ripened  this- 
tles in  the  pasture ;  he  is  after  the  seed,  and  if  we 
watch  him  we  will  see  how  nicely  he  aids  Nature  by 
setting  whole  clouds  of  thistle  down  afloat. 

The  most  perfect  of  all  blue  wild  flowers  now 
follows  in  our  list :  it  is  par  excellence  the  roadside 
beauty.  This  is  chicory  (Cicorium  Intybus\  a  dan- 
delionlike  flower  whose  charming  misty  blue  set  in 
soft  green  must  be  seen  in  broad  spreading  masses 
to  be  appreciated.  The  flower  is  too  familiar  to 
need  description  here.  Its  roots  are  ground,  roast- 
ed, and  used  either  to  flavor  coffee  or  to  furnish  a 
straight  substitute  for  it. 

Still  another  dandelionlike  flower  we  will  see  on 
the  rattlesnake  weed  (Hieracium  venosum).  This 
scrawny  stemmed  plant  grows  from  one  to  two  feet 
high,  and  bears  on  its  many  branches  small  yellow 
flower  heads  composed  of  strap-shaped  florets.  The 
leaves,  clustered  at  the  root,  conspicuously  purple- 
veined  above  and  purple-tinged  beneath,  are  oblong, 
thin,  pale,  and  slightly,  if  at  all,  toothed. 

A  hawkweed  (Hieracium  Canadense)  which  is 
quite  common  on  the  woodland  roads  in  the  North 
bears  yellow  flowers  slightly  resembling  the  species 
described  above.  It  has  a  simple  leafy  stem  grow- 


204    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


ing  from  one  to  three  feet  high,  bearing  at  the  top  a 
somewhat  flat  flower  cluster.  The  leaves  are  lance- 
shaped  or  oblong,  acute,  and  sparingly  coarse-toothed  ; 
the  uppermost  leaves  slightly  clasp  the 
stem.  I  have  found  this  flower  in 
bloom  in  northern  New  Hampshire 
in  August.  Hieracium  scabrum  is  a 
roughish,  hairy  stemmed  species  with 
a  stout,  simple  stalk  two  to 
three  feet  high,  having  reversed 
egg-shaped  or  oval  leaves 
without  teeth,  and  a  nar- 
row cluster  of  many  small 
flower  heads  which  are 
thickly  clothed  with  dark, 
glandular  bristles.  This  is  a  very 
common  species  of  dry,  open 
woods,  and  it  frequently  appears 
on  the  shady  roadside. 

We  now  come  to  the  last  sec- 
tion of  importance  in  the  Composite  family,  the 
tall  Prenanthes.  The  commonest  member  of  this 
group,  lion's  foot  or  gall  of  the  earth  (Prenanthes 
serpentaria\  we  are  quite  sure  to  meet  in  some 
shady  stretch  of  the  highway.  This  weed  bears  pret- 
ty, drooping,  bell-shaped  flowers,  variously  colored 
with  green,  dull  purple,  and  dull  yellow- white.  The 


Hieracium  Canadense. 


THE  TALL  MIDSUMMER  WEEDS.  205 

leaves  are   somewhat   angularly  shaped  ;    the   lower 
ones  are  variously  three-  to  seven -lobed,  with   mar- 
gined stems ;    the  upper  ones  are 
oblong,   lance  -  shaped,  mostly 
undivided,  and   they    almost 
clasp   the  main  stem.      This 
plant  will  also  be   found   in 
the  tangled  brush  of  the  clear- 
ing,   where    its    inconspicuous 
flowers  are  scarcely  relieved  against 
a  confused  and  green  background; 
it  blooms  in  late  August. 

The  tall  rattlesnake  root  (Pre- . 
nanthes  altissima)  is  an  imposing 
species  common  in  the  rich  wood- 
lands of  the  ^orth,  which  some- 
times attains   a   height  of   seven 
feet.     It  bears  a  long  narrow  pani- 
cle of  inconspicuous  green  and  dull- 
white   flowers,   which   top   off  the 

Prenanthes  serpentaria. 

slender  weed  with  a  slightly  curved, 
loose,  leafy  cluster,  and  also  spring  from  the  junction 
of  the  leaves  with  the  main  stem.  The  leaves  are 
variously  shaped,  but  all  have  distinct  stems ;  they 
are  triangular,  ovate,  toothed  or  cleft,  and  frequently 
three-to  five-parted.  Still  another  species,  P.  alba, 
sometimes  called  common  white  lettuce,  is  also  quite 


206    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


frequently  found  on  the  woodland  road  in  the  North  ; 
this  grows  from  two  to  four  feet  high  and  bears  in- 
conspicuous  white   or   greenish  flor- 
ets,   enveloped    in    purplish    scales. 
The  leaves  are  also  very  variable. 
These  three  species  of  Prenan- 
thes  are  characterized    by   droop- 
ing flowers. 

Another       species  .    common 
throughout  the  extreme  North  is 
P.   racemosa  ;    this   bears  pur- 
plish  flowers  which  are   nearly 
erect.     The  stem  rises  from  two  to 
five  feet  in  height,  and  bears  ob- 
long, lance-shaped  leaves,  toothed,  smooth, 
the  upper  ones  slightly  clasping  the  main 
stem,  and  the  lower  ones  ta- 
pering   into   margined   stems 
next  to  the  main  stalk. 
The    tall    rattlesnake    root    has 
but  one  rival  of  imposing  stature  ;  that 
is  the  marvelous  ragweed.     Whenever 
we  see  a  slender  climbing  stalk  beside 
the  road,  it  is  pretty  sure  to  be  one  of 
these  two  giant  weeds,  which  spend  the 
greater  part  of  spring  and  summer  in  an  effort  to 
reach  the  sky. 


Prenanthes 
altissima. 


THE   FRANCONIA   NOTCH, 

FROM    CAMPTON,   GRAFTON   CO.,    N.  H. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    BEES    WHICH    WE    PASS   BY. 

THE  common  honeybee  (Apis  mellifica)*  is  an 
omnipresent  little  creature  which  is  always  in  search 
of  honey  and  pollen  among  the  roadside  flowers. 
What  is  most  interesting  about  this  insect  is  its 
family  history,  which  I  will  take  it  for  granted 
every  one  knows.  The  marvelous  economy  of  the 
beehive  we  have  long  since  become  familiar  with 
through  the  writings  of  Agassiz  and  Langstroth  ;  f 
and  as  for  Langstroth,  we  ought  to  be  proud  to 
know  that  the  world  is  indebted  to  him,  an  Amer- 
ican, for  enlarging  the  science  of  bee  culture  and  in- 
venting the  one  perfect  and  ingenious  hive  in  univer- 
sal use  to-day. 

In  late  June,  when  the  patches  of  raspberry  bram- 
bles are  in  full  bloom  beside  the  road  which  leads 


*  The  Italian  bee  (Apis  Ligustica)  is  quite  as  common, 
f  Lorenzo   Lorraine   Langstroth   was  born   in   Philadelphia, 
December  25,  1810. 

207 


208    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

northward  through  Campton  to  the  Franconia  Notch, 
we  will  be  sure  to  find  the  Italian  honeybee  busily 
engaged  there.  It  is  always  the  worker  bee,  never 
any  other,  and  we  can  only  call  her  a  female  in  a 
limited  sense  of  the  term,  as  the  queen  or  mother 
bee  is  the  one  perfectly  developed  female  in  the 
hive  ;  she  only  lays  the  eggs.*  The  worker,  we  can 
easily  see  by  a  glass,  is  busy  dipping  her  long,  triple- 
shaped  tongue  in  the  nectar.  This  she  draws  up 
by  the  trough-shaped  middle  division  of  the  tongue, 
and  it  is  conducted  into  the  honey-sac  (the  equiva- 
lent of  a  stomach) ;  on  the  way  it  undergoes  a  chem- 
ical change  from  cane  sugar  to  grape  sugar.  This 
is  accomplished  by  the  admixture  of  a  salivary  secre- 
tion of  the  bee  with  the  flower  nectar.  The  bee's 
stomach  is  furnished  with  muscles  which  enable  her 
to  compress  it  and  thus  ejaculate  the  honey  into  the 
comb  cell.  We  will  see,  therefore,  that  honey  by 
the  time  it  reaches  the  hive  is  no  longer  simple 
flower  nectar  any  more  than  a  raw  oxhide  is  shoe 
leather. 

But  honey  is  not  the  only  thing  which  the  bee 
gathers,  and  Watts  did  not  record  in  his  familiar 
verses  the  other  important  part  of  her  work ;  she 

• 

*  Very  rarely,  however,  when  a  colony  has  been  queenless  for 
some  time,  a  few  workers  are  sufficiently  developed  to  be  capable 
of  laying  eggs ;  but  these  eggs  only  produce  drones.  (Langstroth.) 


THE  BEES  WHICH  WE  PASS  BY. 


209 


very  often  collects  pollen.  This  she  carries  in  certain 
bristle-edged  hollows  in  the  sides  of  her  hind  legs, 
called  pollen  baskets.  I  rarely  find  a  bee  on  one  of 
my  garden  flowers  With  her  baskets  empty;  she 
usually  has  them  crammed  full  to  overflowing  with 
the  golden  dust.  Dust  it  looks  like  to 
our  dull  eyes,  but  under  the  micro- 
scope it  takes  on  the  loveliest  forms, 
several  of  which  I  have  sketched. 
However,  the  bee  does  not  gather  it 
for  aesthetic  reasons ;  she  wants  it  for 
food,  not  only  for  herself  but  particu- 
larly for  storage  in  the  cells  of  the 
bee  mother's  brood.  If  both  honey 
and  pollen  can  be  gathered  from  the 
same  blossom,  the  industrious  bee  will 

The  Worker  Bee 

not  leave  until  she  has  collected  a  good  and  magnified 
load  of  each.  Wherever  she  begins 
there  she  will  stay,  no  matter  if  the  pollen  is  not 
quite  as  plentiful  as  it  is  in  some  other  flower ;  con- 
sequently, the  contents  of  the  baskets  are  nearly  al- 
ways one  color,  either  yellow,  orange,  or  brown.  In 
fact,  the  bee  does  not  care  for  "  mixed  fruit,"  and 
it  has  been  explained  that  the  mixed  kinds  do  not 
pack  so  well  together.  When  the  load  of  pollen  is 
brought  home  it  is  brushed  out  of  the  baskets  into 

the  cell,  packed  down  very  carefully,  covered  per- 
15 


210    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

haps  with  honey,  and  the  cell  is  sealed  over  with  wax 
ready  for  future  use. 

Very  early  in  the  morning,  when  my  ranunculus 
poppies  are  in  full  bloom,  they  are  alive  with  thou- 
sands of  bees  intent  upon  gathering  pollen.  The 
musical  hum  of  their  wings  can  be  heard  thirty 
feet  away,  and  so  intent  are  they  upon  the  pleasant 
task,  that  occasionally  I  can  stroke  a  fuzzy,  pollen- 
besmeared  back  with  my  finger  tip  and  meet  with 
no  sign  of  remonstrance.  The  bumblebee,  however, 
objects  ;  but  she,  too,  is  altogether  pre- 
occupied, and  she  only  demurs  by  kick- 
ing up  her  hind  legs.  Nearly  all  the 
bees  which  visit  my  garden  are  Italians. 
They  are  distinguished  from  the  com- 
mon bees  by  the  five  golden  bands  on 

The  Italian  Bee. 

their  abdomen,  the  middle  one  of  which 
should  be  distinctly  visible ;  the  other  four  are  less 
pronounced,  especially  if  the  little  creature  is  not 
stuffed  full  of  honey.  This  Italian  bee  (Apis  Ligus- 
tica)  was  introduced  into  this  country  in  1859  by 
Messrs.  Wagner  and  Colvin,  of  Baltimore,  and  its 
superiority  in  every  way  to  the  common  bee  is  con- 
ceded by  all  apiarists.  It  is  less  sensitive  to  cold, 
more  peaceable,  less  apt  to  sting,  more  industrious, 
fights  better  against  the  enemies  of  the  hive,  and  is 
more  easily  handled  than  the  common  bee ;  the  lat- 


THE  BEES  WHICH  WE  PASS  BY.  211 

ter  is  slate-gray  in  color  and  varies  greatly  in  size, 
but  is  generally  a  trifle  plumper  than  the  Italian  bee. 
The  common  black  bee  was  introduced  into 
Florida  by  the  Spaniards  some  few  years  previous 
to  1763.  Longfellow  evidently  knew  that  the 
honeybee  was  not  indigenous  to  this  country,  for  he 
makes  Hiawatha  say  of  the  white  men  : 

Wheresoe'er  they  move,  before  them 
Swarms  the  stinging  fly,  the  Ahmo, 
Swarms  the  bee,  the  honey-maker. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  facts  about  the  work 
of  the  bee  is  the  method  she  pursues  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  wax ;  this  is  evolved  by  a  sort  of  meditative 
process  somewhat  akin  to  German  philosophy,  except 
that  I  must  admit  the  irrelevancy  of  mind  in  this 
particularly  case.  The  workers  proceed  to  gorge 
themselves  with  honey ;  then  they  hang  together 
in  a  series  of  chains  from  the  roof  of  the  hive,  each 
one  clasping  hands  with  her  neighbor  and  remaining 
in  that  quiescent  position  for  twenty-four  hours  or 
so.  This  inactivity  produces  a  result  similar  to  that 
which  follows  upon  the  cooping  up  and  overfeeding 
of  a  barnyard  fowl ;  the  bees  begin  to  grow  fat — that 
is,  they  exude  wax  in  the  shape  of  delicate  scales 
from  eight  small  pouches  on  the  under  side  of  the 
abdomen.  Honey  is  therefore  converted  into  wax  in 


212    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

much  the  same  way  that  food  is  converted  into  fat. 
But  these  wax  scales  are  so  tiny  that  four  hundred 
of  them  would  scarcely  outweigh  a  kernel  of  corn ; 
and  as  for  the  quantity  of  honey  which  the  bees  must 
consume  to  promote  this  interesting  operation,  that 
seems  incredible,  for  it  has  been  estimated  that  no 
less  than  from  seven  to  ten  pounds  of  it  are  required 

for  the  making  of  one  pound 
of  wax.  What  an  expensive 
process ! 

The  remarkably  beauti- 
ful queen  or  mother  bee  is 
a  veritable  aristocrat.  No- 
tice how  different  her  figure 

A,  the  Drone ;  B,  the  Queen  Bee.    ...  ,  .     ,          IT* 

is  from  that  of  the  plebeian 

worker  or  the  drone.  Her  wings  are  proportionally 
short  and  as  fine  as  gauze  ;  her  body  is  long  and 
tapering,  and  underneath  it  is  golden  yellow.  She 
is  rarely,  if  ever,  seen  away  from  the  hive,  and  then, 
perhaps,  only  when  the  bees  are  swarming.  Nearly 
all  of  her  life  is  spent  indoors,  and  her  time  is  quite 
absorbed  in  heavy  maternal  cares.  In  the  laying  of 
eggs  the  barnyard  hen  is  not  to  be  mentioned  in  the 
same  breath  with  her,  as  in  breeding  time  she  can 
lay  at  the  rate  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  eggs  per 
minute,  and  sometimes  she  produces  not  less  than 
thirty-five  hundred  in  one  day!  If  she  made  as 


THE  BEES  WHICH  WE  PASS  BY.  213 

much  fuss  about  it  as  an  ordinary  hen,  what  an  inter- 
minable racket  would  greet  our  ears  from  the  beehive ! 
The  flowers  and  trees  which  line  the  side  of  the 
road  offer  stores  of  honey  for  the  bee  ;  let  me  men- 
tion some  of  them,  for  they  are  by  no  means  the 
strong-scented  ones.  The  raspberry  (it  bears  the 
finest  flavored  honey)  stands  at  the  head  of  the 
list,  next  comes  white  clover.  Red  clover  is  hardly 
eligible  because  the  bee's  tongue  is  not  long  enough 
to  reach  down  to  the  bottom  of  the  blossom ;  so  we 
must  leave  this  flower  to  the  bumblebee  whose  tongue 
is  longer.  Then  comes  the  dandelion,  rich  in  both 
pollen  and  honey,  and  the  wild  rose,  melilot,  Canada 
thistle,  all  fruit  trees,  red  and  sugar  maples,  linden, 
all  willows  (these  furnish  both  pollen  and  honey), 
Judas  tree,  yellowwood,  locust,  tulip  tree  (one  of  the 
greatest  honey-producing  trees  in  the  world),  haw- 
thorn, snapdragon,  larkspur,  borage,  chamomile,  mi- 
gnonette, alyssum,  coreopsis,  sunflower,  boneset,  iron- 
weed,  fireweed,  rudbekia,  thoroughwort,  catnip, 
horsemint,  dead  nettle,  basil,  peas,  beans,  false 
indigo,  chicory,  golden-rod,  aster,  and,  last  but  not 
least,  that  characteristic  roadside  flower,  self-heal 
(jSrunella  vulgaris\  a  blue-violet  flower  which  is  the 
especial  favorite  of  the  bumblebee.  I  should  not 
omit  to  include  the  common  milkweed,  but  this  is  a 
great  snare  for  the  honeybee. 


214   FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

The  milkweed  flower's  pollen  is  gathered  in  a 
compact  mass  inclosed  by  a  tiny  sack.  These  sacks 
are  connected  together  by  threads  which  terminate 
in  a  single  sticky  gland  ;  this  adheres  to  the  feet 
and  the  outer  parts  *  of  the  poor  bee's  tongue,  and 
she  soon  is  so  ensnarled  with  threads  and  pollen  bags 

JL  o 

that  she  falls  to  the  ground  and  perishes.  The  bee 
can,  however,  clean  herself  off  if  she  is  not  too  much 
encumbered,  and  under  the  magnifying  glass  it  is 
quite  amusing  to  watch  her  "  tidy  up."  She  uses 
her  saliva  for  water,  cleans  off  her  feet  and  legs, 
combs  her  antennse  with  her  fore  legs,  which  are  es- 
pecially constructed  for  the  purpose,  smoothes  down 
her  wings  by  brushes  attached  to  her  heels,  even 
brushes  her  eyes  instead  of  wiping  them,  and  when 
she  has  completed  her  toilet  flies  away  with  an  evi- 
dent feeling  that  she  is  now  "  fit  to  be  seen."  She 
does  not  fly  slowly  either,  for  she  can  champion  the 
fleetest  bicyclist  and  the  most  famous  race  horse  by 
a  record  of  more  than  a  mile  in  two  minutes. 

The  bee's  life  is  rather  short,  not  over  thirty -five 
or  forty  days  long  in  the  busy  season  of  summer.  In 
winter,  however,  a  period  of  comparative  idleness,  it 
is  estimated  to  extend  over  a  much  greater  length  of 

*  The  labial  palpi  and  maxilla,  accessory  parts  of  the  tongue 
proper. 


THE  BEES  WHICH  WE  PASS  BY.  215 

time  ;  but  with  the  exception  of  the  queen,  no  bee 
lives  to  be  a  yeax*  old. 

The  bumblebee  or  humblebee  (Jfombw)*  is  even 
more  commonly  a  searcher  after  honey  on  the  road- 
side than  the  honeybee.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to 
see  a  patch  of  red  clover,  or  a  little  clump  of 
the  pretty  blue  Jtrunella  vulyaris  at  our  feet,  with- 
out some  one  of  the  blossoms  holding  a  golden- 
hipped,  smoky-winged,  clumsy  visitor,  one  of  the 
very  best  of  flower  friends  because  the  most  useful 
pollen  disseminator  in  the  world.  The  humblebee  is 
so  called  because  it  builds  its 
nest  on  the  ground  beside  the 
grasses,  or  under  stones.  The 
colonies  of  bumblebees  are  small 
compared  with  those  of  the  The  Queen  Bumblebeo 
honeybees  ;  sometimes  there  are  (Bomim  PennsyUa- 

nicum). 

as  many  as  three  hundred  in  a 
family,  but  frequently  not  more  than  fifty  or  sixty. 
In  each  nest  there  are  four  kinds  of  bees— the 
queens,  small  females,  males,  and  workers.  In  au- 
tumn all  except  the  queens  die ;  these  remain  dor- 
mant in  the  deep  seclusion  of  some  hole  near  the 
nest  until  the  warmth  of  returning  spring  awakens 
them  from  their  winter  lethargy,  and  prompts  them 

*  There  are  about  forty  different  species. 


216   FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

to  look  about  for  some  suitable  spot  in  which  to  lay 
their  eggs.  The  situation  being  duly  selected,  the 
bee  goes  a-foraging  for  honey  and  pollen  ;  these  she 
works  together  in  a  mass  and  on  it  deposits  her  eggs. 
Yery  soon  the  eggs  are  hatched,  and  the  grubs  after 
eating  and  growing  fat  finally  envelop  themselves  in 
silken  cocoons  ;  then  the  mother  bee  covers  the 
cocoons  with  wax.  Eventually  the  young  bees 
mature  and  emerge  from  their  cells,  full-fledged 
workers.  This  modus  operandi  is  repeated  until 
several  broods  are  hatched,  the  small  females  and 
the  males  being  produced  about  the  middle  of  sum- 
mer, and  still  later  the  queens 
from  the  final  batch  of  eggs. 

The  bumblebee  is  a  little  glut- 
ton, either  on  the  roadside  clover  * 


The  Bumblebee  Qr  the          den  gunflower> 

(Bombus  vagans}. 

watched  more  than  one  cram  it- 
self so  full  of  honey  from  my  sunflowers  that  ap- 
parently it  was  helplessly  drunk  with  the  potent  sweet. 
The  thistle  seems  to  produce  the  same  effect  on  the 
greedy  insect,  and,  despite  all  urgent  invitations  to 
move  on,  it  either  clings  to  the  flower  or  drops  to  the 
ground  with  a  hopeless,  maudlin  kind  of  a  buzz  ! 
There  are  insect  characters  often  seen  among  the 

*  See  also  Chap.  XI,  page  180. 


THE  BEES  WHICH  WE  PASS  BY. 


217 


The  Robber  Fly. 


roadside  flowers  which  so  closely  resembles  in  appear- 
ance the  golden  bumblebee  that  I  must  draw  atten- 
tion to  the  points  which  distinguish  them  apart. 

One  is   called  Eristalis  flavipes.      It  is  a  near 
relative  of  the  drone  %  and  a  harmless  sipper  of 
honey.     The  other  is  called  the  robber  fly, 
and  its  Latin  name  is  Laphria,  or  Da- 
syllis  tergissa.     This  bloodthirsty  indi- 
vidual hangs  about  the  flowers  of  my 
garden,  or  carries  itself   with  in  no- 

o  > 

cent  mein  on  the  roadside  golden  - 
rod,  as  though  it  was  bent  on  honey ; 
but  let  a  small  insect  approach  too 
near  and  the  murderous  hypocrite  will  pounce  upon 
it,  thrust  a  horny  bill  in  its  side,  and  draw  every  drop 
of  blood  from  its  body.  We  can  always  identify  him 
by  two  or  three  unmistakable  characteris- 
tics :  he  has  only  two  wings,  not  four 
like  the  bumblebee  or  any  other  bee ; 
then  his  shoulders  are  dull-gold  color 
and  are  not  humped  like  those  of  the 
bumblebee ;  besides,  there  is  the  for- 
midable horny  bill  which,  under  a  glass, 
bears  no  resemblance  whatever  to  the  bumblebee's 
honey  tongue.  Still  another  robber  fly  (Promachus 
bastardi\  of  a  wasplike  figure,  is  frequently  seen 
among  the  roadside  flowers. 


Eristalis 
iiavipes. 


218    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

One  word,  now,  about  bees'  stings.  As  for  the 
bumblebee,  she  is  good-natured  beyond  measure,  and 
the  honeybee  very  rarely  stings.  Of  course,  all  male 
bees  and  wasps  have  no  stings,  so  they  can  be  handled 
with  impunity.  A  little  calmness  in  the  presence 
of  numberless  bees  will  go  a  great  way  toward  pre- 
venting a  painful  misunderstanding;  but  to  thrash 
the  air  with  one's  hat  is  to  invite  hostility.  It 
is  often  said  that  if  the  honeybee  stings  once,  she 
seals  her  own  fate  and  must  inevitably  perish.  This 
is  not  so ;  it  altogether  depends  upon  circum- 
stances. The  tip  of  her  sting  is  not  like  that  of  a 
hornet,  smooth  and  needlelike;  it  is  barbed  with  a 
number  of  very  tiny  points  set  laterally,  so  that  when 
she  stings  deeply — we  will 
say  about  a  fourteenth  of  an 
inch  down — these  catch  on 

the  flesh  like  the  teeth  of  a 

<f     Wj    \ 
saw,  and  the  enraged   insect,  m      ^ 

tearing  herself  away,  or,  more  The  Robber  Fly 

likely,  thrust  violently  asi5e  (P™nacMs  bastardy 
by  her  victim,  leaves  not  only  her  sting,  but  her  poi- 
son bag  and  other  portions  of  her  anatomy  behind 
her.  Under  such  conditions  she  can  not  continue  to 
live.  But  should  she  sting  less  deeply,  or  strike  the 
tender,  soft  flesh  of  a  less  muscular  individual,  she 
will  probably  escape  uninjured.  Should  it  happen 


THE   BEES  WHICH  WE  PASS  BY.  219 

that  the  bee's  sting  enters  the  flesh  perpendicularly, 
it  is  more  likely  to  be  safely  withdrawn ;  but  if  it 
enters  at  an  angle,  as  it  usually  does  if  the  bee  bends 
its  abdomen  forward,  then  the  sting  is  left  behind. 
In  this  event  it  should  be  instantly  removed  by  a 
rapid  scrape  to  the  right  or  left  with  the  nail  or  the 
point  of  a  penknife.  To  withdraw  the  sting  by  pull- 
ing with  the  two  fingers  is  to  incur  the  possible  risk 
of  pinching  the  poison  bag  and  injecting  more  poison 
into  the  wound. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

NATURE'S  COLOR  ON  MOUNTAIN,  MEADOW,  AND 
WOODLAND. 

THERE  is  no  better  place  to  study  the  colors  of 
Nature  than  on  the  highway.  Here  we  may  obtain 
the  best  effect  of  light  on  mountain  and  intervale, 
and  the  greatest  color  depth  in  the  shadows  of  bor- 
dering trees ;  here  the  sunshine  on  the  birches  looks 
greener  than  it  does  elsewhere,  except  in  the  woods, 
and  the  emerald  of  the  mountain  pool  ceases  to  be 
fancy,  but  fact.  The  neutral  gray-buff  of  the  road 
furnishes  an  admirable  canvas,  so  to  speak,  on  which 
the  colors,  as  in  a  picture,  reveal  their  true  strength 
and  beauty. 

I  have  elsewhere  spoken  of  tone  deafness  ;  it  is  a 
fact  that  some  ears  lack  either  the  ability  or  the 
training  to  hear  properly.  In  the  same  sense  there 
are  many  of  us  who  do  not  properly  see  color  in 
Nature.  Years  ago,  when  the  impressionists  first  ex- 
hibited their  work  in  Paris,  they  were  ridiculed  by 

220 


WILLOWS   BESIDE   THE   ROAD, 
THORNTON,   GRAFTON   CO.,    N.  H. 


NATURE'S  COLOR.  221 

artist  and  critic  ;  now  the  ridicule  of  impressionism  is 
confined  to  an  unappreciative  public.  This  means 
that  some  of  us  have  learned  that  we  were  partially 
color-Hind,  and  did  not  see  all  the  color  in  Nature 
which  the  impressionists  did,  and  to  obtain  which 
they  let  everything — perspective,  drawing,  modeling, 
and  composition — go  to  the  winds.  I  am  strongly 
of  the  opinion,  therefore,  that  to  see  color  properly 
we  should  learn  to  see  it  as  they  did — in  an  exclusive 
manner. 

But  it  is  my  purpose  here  to  suggest  how  we  can 
train  our  eyes  to  see  as  much  of  Nature's  color  as 
may  be  possible.  There  are  countless  numbers  of 
greens  in  the  leafage  about  us ;  let  us  see  how  wide 
the  differences  are.  A  leaf  of  the  long-beaked 
willow  (Salix  rostrata)  is  an  excellent  example  of 
contrast.  This  willow  is  sure  to  be  on  the  roadside, 
and  we  may  know  it  by  its  thick,  broad,  rough,  and 
irregularly  scalloped  leaf  which  is  deep  olive-green 
above  and  pale-blue  white-green  beneath.  A  slight 
gust  of  wind  sets  it  in  motion,  and  we  catch  glimpses 
of  olive  and  white  which  are  quite  impressive.  This 
whiteness  is  a  marked  feature  of  some  willows,  and 
after  a  little  study  it  should  soon  be  possible  for  us  to 
know  them  a  mile  away  by  their  blue-white-green 
color.  The  attenuated  form  of  the  foliage  is  largely 
accountable  for  this  light  and  soft  color  effect ;  the 


222    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

sunlight  does  not  readily  get  at  the  narrow  leaves,  and 
they  reflect  very  little  light.  Quite  the  opposite  is 
true  of  a  young  leaf  of  the  gray  birch  (Betula  popu- 
lifolia).  This  is  bright,  shiny  yellow-green,  very 
responsive  to  sunlight,  and  in  strong  contrast  with 
the  dull  dark  hue  of  the  long-beaked  willow  leaf. 
But  of  all  the  yellow-green  leaves  which  we  can  find 
in  the  woodland  not  one  is  comparable  to  that  of 
either  the  young  red  mulberry  (Morus  rubra)  or 
the  young  Indian  poke  (  Veratrum  viride)  ;  these  are 
inexpressibly  tender  and  pure  in  color. 

It  is  only  by  comparison  that  we  can  gauge  the 
strength  of  color.  Red  reveals  its  full  power  only 
by  its  environment ;  this  can  be  proved  in  an  instant 
by  a  very  simple  experiment.  Suppose  we  take  a  bit 
of  purple  paper,  and,  cutting  a  round  hole  in  the 
center,  place  a  bit  of  scarlet  paper  behind  it ;  next, 
we  will  treat  a  bit  of  yellow  paper  in  the  same  way, 
placing  another  piece  of  the  same  scarlet  paper  be- 
hind that.  What  is  the  result  ?  The  two  scarlets 
no  longer  appear  equally  strong;  that  behind  the 
yellow  paper  seems  to  be  much  darker! 

The  distant  mountain  appears  quite  blue ;  but  if 
there  is  a  lingering  uncertainty  about  that,  it  all  van- 
ishes if  we  will  suffer  for  an  instant  the  discomfort 
of  turning  our  heads  upside  down  and  viewing  the 
landscape  that  way.  The  mountain  is  now  intensely 


GRAY   BIRCHES   IN    SUNLIGHT, 
AFTER   A   SHOWER. 


NATURE'S  COLOR.  223 

blue,  and  the  stretch  of  meadow  down  in  the  valley 
is  intensely  green  ;  we  had  not  noticed  that  before. 
This  may  be  accounted  for  by  a  very  simple  fact : 
in  disturbing  the  normal  position  of  objects  on  the 
retina,  we  disturb  also  our  acute  perception  of  detail. 
As  there  is  little  or  no  detail  to  color,  we  see  that 
en  masse  without  visual  distraction :  and  when  our 
attention  is  exclusively  devoted  to  one  thing  we  are 
apt  to  understand  it  better — that  is  all.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  eye  becomes  dull  and  heedless  from  see- 
ing things  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  a  little  shaking 
up  acts  as  a  positive  stimulant. 

The  omnipresence  of  color  in  Nature  is  not  fully 
appreciated ;  occasionally,  by  accident,  we  discover 
more  color  than  we  think  we  have  any  right  to  see ! 
It  is  precisely  in  this  conservative  spirit  that  we 
criticise  an  impressionist's  uncommonly  colored  pic- 
ture ;  we  think  that  he  can  not  truly  see  so  much, 
and  has  wilfully  made  his  picture  a  chromatic  falsity. 
But  we  ourselves  have  not  learned  the  whole  truth 
about  color  until  we  have  turned  our  heads  upside 
down ! 

Nature  uses  no  black  in  any  part  of  her  work — 
I  will  not  even  except  the  blackberry*  and  the  so- 
called  black  pansy.  On  a  bright,  clear  day,  the 

*  See  the  chapter  containing  a  description  of  the  blackberry. 


224:  FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

shadows  on  the  snow  are  pale  ultramarine  blue ; 
under  a  blue  sky  in  midsummer,  the  color  of  the 
placid  lake  is  cobalt  blue  and  the  shadows  on  the 
grass  are  lilac ;  on  a  weathered,  gray  board  walk 
they  are  nearly  as  blue  as  the  sky  itself.  The  pal- 
pitating atmosphere  of  a  warm  July  day  lifts  the 
coloring  of  the  landscape  to  a  higher  but  softer  key 
instead  of  reducing  it  with  gray ;  and  in  autumn, 
when  the  sugar  maple's  leaves  are  turned  to  gold, 
the  shadows  on  the  trunk,  and  every  gray  rock  in 
the  vicinity,  are  tinged  with  strong  lilac.  In  fine, 
when  the  sun  shines,  everything,  even  the  shadow 
which  we  are  prone  to  believe  is  gray,  is  replete 
with  color. 

Not  even  the  neutral  buff -gray  of  the  road  is 
exempt  from  blue-tinted  shadows ;  look  at  them 
through  a  small  hole  in  a  bit  of  white  paper  and 
the  blue  will  become  more  apparent ;  where  does  it 
come  from  ?  I  can  answer  the  question  best  by  sug- 
gesting two  experiments  which  demonstrate  the  pe- 
culiar effect  of  colored  light ;  they  are  both  simple 
and  conclusive.  If  we  light  two  small  lamps  in  a 
dark  room,  one  with  a  red  and  the  other  with  a  blue- 
green  glass  shade,  place  them  about  two  feet  apart, 
and  eight  feet  away  from  some  small  object  within 
nine  inches  of  the  wall,  we  will  see  on  the  latter  two 
shadows,  one  of  which  is  green  and  the  other  red. 


NATURE'S  COLOR.  225 

JSTow,  if  we  turn  down  the  red  light  the  green 
shadow  disappears,  or  if  we  turn  down  the  green 
light  the  red  shadow  disappears.  So  we  discover  the 
fact  that  while  the  two  lights  are  turned  up  each 
throws  its  color  in  the  shadow  produced  by  the  other. 
Again,  if  we  light  a  white-shaded  lamp  in  the  day- 
time (it  should  be  a  cloudless  day),  and  place  it  on 
a  table  covered  with  a  white  cloth  in  a  room  where 
the  light  is  admitted  through  but  one  window,  the 
shadow  of  a  napkin  ring  on  the  cloth  cast  by  the 
lamplight  will  appear  quite  blue.  In  this  instance 
we  have  discovered  that  the  daylight,  more  or  less 
influenced  by  the  reflected  blue  of  the  sky,  casts  a 
blue  light  in  the  shadow  thrown  by  the  lamplight. 

Now  our  blue  shadows  out  of  doors  are  thorough- 
ly accounted  for ;  the  intense  blue  sky  throws  a  blue 
light  in  every  shadow  cast  by  the  sun.  It  is  also  the 
fact  that  the  purple  of  distant  mountains  is  partially 
due  to  the  blue  of  the  sky  above.  The  poet  Whit- 
tier  more  than  once  has  alluded  to  "  the  purple  of 
mountain  sunsets."  The  word  purple,  however,  but 
vaguely  describes  the  roseate  hues  cast  upon  the 
blue  mountain  by  the  setting  sun.  If  we  will  turn 
our  head  upside  down  again  and  study  the  sunset 
glow  on  the  far-away  hills,  we  will  see  there  nearly 
every  color  related  to  purple,  but  hardly  purple  it- 
self ;  the  summits  of  the  rocky  hills  are  bathed  in  a 
16 


226    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

rosy  glow,  this  is  reduced  to  crushed-raspberry  color 
as  it  fades  away  on  the  wooded  slopes  beneath,  and 
down  in  the  deep  ravines  is  a  whitish,  violet-ultra- 
marine shadow  too  soft  to  suggest  in  the  remotest 
way  the  crudeness  of  true  purple. 

In  broad  daylight  the  flower-decked  meadows 
covered  with  tall,  ripe  grass  are  seldom  green  ;  in- 
stead, we  have  buff,  yellow,  yellow-green,  salmon  - 
pink,  whitish  pink,  and  shadowy  lilac  again.  In 
early  June  the  golden-green  patches  of  buttercups 
resemble  the  colors  on  the  humming  bird's  back. 
In  later  June  masses  of  ox-eye  daisies  throw  a  dainty 
pinkish  white  tint  over  the  grass,  and  in  July  the 
wild  Canada  lily  embroiders  it  with  a  powdered  pat- 
tern in  tawny  yellow.  But  I  never  see  any  brown 
or  gray  on  the  meadow ;  it  is  always  brimful  of 
color,  from  the  glare  of  light  on  the  white  daisies 
to  the  lilac  shadows  of  the  tall,  graceful  elms.  Even 
in  winter,  when  it  is  covered  with  a  mantle  of  snow, 
it  is  still  rich  in  color,  for  its  borders  are  set  with 
the  almost  vivid  red  stems  of  the  red  osier  (Cornus 
stolonifera\  its  pure  white  is  accented  by  the  irides- 
cent blue-black  of  half  a  dozen  stray  crows ;  and  best 
of  all,  just  before  the  sun  sets  (however  freezingly 
cold  the  effect  may  be),  the  white  is  tinged  with  yel- 
low, and  the  broad  shadow  of  the  opposite  hill  which 
is  creeping  over  it  is  intensely  purple — exactly  the 


NATURE'S  COLOR. 


227 


228    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

color  that  Whittier  thought  he  saw  in  the  mountain 
sunset.  But  chilly  yellow  and  purple  are  sunlight 
and  shadow  colors  which  belong  to  winter,  never  to 
summer ;  we  always  find  them  in  frosty  skies  and 
on  frozen  meadows.  Undoubtedly  there  are  gray 
days  and  leaden  skies  in  plenty,  even  in  midsum- 


A  gray  day.    Road  to  Blue  Island,  111. 

mer,  but  these  only  serve  to  accent  the  rainbow  tints 
of  sunshiny  days,  and  to  rivet  our  attention  particu- 
larly on  those  wonderful  transient  effects  of  color 
which  occasionally  favoring  us  at  the  sunset  hour, 
prompt  us  to  exclaim  with  some  vehemence :  "  There ! 
if  an  artist  should  put  that  color  effect  on  canvas, 
every  one  would  say  he  did  not  tell  the  truth  !  " 


CHAPTEE  XY. 

GOLDEN-ROD   AND   ASTERS. 

GOLDEN-ROD  is  a  distinctively  American  flower, 
not  only  indigenous  to  our  country,  but  broadly  dis- 
tributed from  one  end  of  it 

B     A 
to  the  other.     There  are  in          A  /I 

all  no  less  than  seventy-five 
members  of  the  tribe  Soli-  f\\j\  I 

dago  (Composite  family), 
forty -two  of  which  are  de- 
scribed in  Gray's  Manual  of 
Botany.  But  there  are  only 
a  dozen  or  so  species  which 
are  common  on  the  borders 
of  the  highway. 

The  golden-rods  have 
two  distinct  kinds  of  leaves. 
I  have  drawn  these,  and 

A,  Feather- veined  Leaf; 
they  tell  their   Own  Story  at  B,  Three-ribbed  Leaf. 


230    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

a  glance.  We  will  call  one  a  feather-veined  leaf  and 
the  other  a  three-ribbed  leaf.  All  the  golden-rods, 
therefore,  can  be  divided  into  two  groups  distin- 
guished apart  by  the  kind  of  leaf.  Beyond  this 
leaf  difference  there  are  other  distinguishing  charac- 
teristics of  the  plants  which  are  to  be  referred  to  the 
flowers  and  the  plant  stems ;  these  are  not  difficult 
to  discover.*  The  questions  which  naturally  arise  as 
we  pursue  our  investigations  are  these  : 

1.  Is  the  leaf  smooth  or  rough-hairy  ? 

2.  Is  it  plain-edged,  or  toothed,  or  both — i.  e., 
"  half  and  half  "  ? 

3.  Is  the  stem  of  the  plant  straight  or  angled  ? 

4.  Is  it  woolly  or  smooth,  or  covered  with  a  plum- 
like  bloom  ? 

5.  Is  it  cylindrical   or  angular  if  cut  in  a  cross 
section  ? 

6.  How  many  little  petals  (rays)  are  there  on  one 
floret  ? 

7.  Do  the  flowers  grow  in  feathery  plumes,  or  in 
flat-topped  clusters,  or  in    little   bunches   along  the 
stem  ? 

Each  golden-rod  common  on  the  roadside  I  will 
describe  after  the  order  suggested  by  these  questions. 

*  A  magnifying  glass  is  an  almost  indispensable  aid  in  the 
solution  of  these  little  botanical  problems. 


GOLDEN-ROD  AND  ASTERS. 


231 


1.  Solidago  arguta.     Blooms  about  the  middle  of 
July.     Leaves  feather-veined,  but  not  very  distinctly 
so,  large,  broad,  smooth,  the  lower 
ones    sharply    toothed,   the    upper 
ones  without  teeth  ;  in  shape,  oval, 
sharp  -  pointed    at    both    ends. 
Stem  angled,  smooth,  angular 
in    section,    and    sometimes    ruddy 
brown.     Flower,  light  golden  yellow, 
fully  a  quarter  of  an  inch  long,  with 
six  or  seven  large  rays.     Flower  plume 
long  and  gracefully  curved.     If  the  plant 
is  one-stemmed  and  small  the  flowers  will 
spring  from   the   junction  of   each  leaf 
with  the  stem.     This  species  is  common 
in  copses  and  the  borders  of  woods ;  it 
grows  from  two  to  four  feet  high. 

2.  Solidago  juncea.  Blooms  about  the 
latter  end  of  July ;  often  in  company  with 
the  foregoing  species.  Leaves  slightly 
three-ribbed,  smooth ;  lower  ones  large, 
somewhat  elliptical,  sharply  toothed,  the  teeth  spread- 
ing ;  a  tiny  leaf  wing  grows  out  on  either  side  of  the 
leafstem  where  it  joins  the  stem  of  the  plant ;  upper 
leaves  generally  without  teeth,  shaped  like  willow 
leaves.  Stem  straight  and  smooth,  not  perfectly 
cylindrical  in  section.  Flower  small,  golden  yellow, 


232   FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


one  sixth  of  an  inch  long,  with  eight  to  twelve  small 
rays.     Flower  clusters  spread  symmetrically  like  the 


juncea. 


S.  serotina. 


figure  of  an  elm.  The  smaller  plants  have  one-sided 
clusters.  This  species  is  common  on  roadside  banks 
and  copses  ;  it  grows  about  thirty  inches  high. 

3.  Solidago  serotina.  Blooms  about  the  first  of 
August.  An  upright,  dignified  species  often  found  in 
company  with  S.  juncea.  Leaves  plainly  three-ribbed, 


GOLDEN-ROD  AND  ASTERS.  233 

smooth,  and  toothed  only  along  the  upper  half  of  the 
edge ;  they  are  narrow  and  sharp-pointed.  Stem 
stout,  smooth,  perfectly  straight,  cylindrical,  and 
very  often  covered  with  a  plumlike  bloom,  but  some- 
times light  green.  The  stems  of  the  little  flower 
clusters  are  covered  with  the  tiniest  of  white  hairs. 
Flower  small,  light  golden  yellow,  with  seven  to 
fourteen  long  rays.  Flower  clusters  spread  cylin- 
drically  at  the  top  of  an  unbranched  stem.  A  taller 
species  than  the  preceding,  rarely  reaching  a  height 
of  six  feet,  common  beside  fences  and  in  copses.  Not 
found  at  the  seaside. 

4.  Solidago  nemoralis.  Gray  golden-rod ;  the 
Latin  name  means  belonging  to  the  woods.  Blooms 
about  the  tenth  of  August.  Leaves  three-ribbed, 
covered  with  minute  grayish  hairs,  broad  lance- 
shaped,  dull-toothed,  somewhat  wider  at  one  end 
than  the  other ;  the  lower  ones  taper  very  narrow- 
ly toward  the  stem.  The  stem  is  gray,  covered  with 
tiny  grayish  hairs,  and  is  always  simple,  never 
branched.  Flower  deep  golden  yellow,  with  five  to 
nine  rays.  Flower  clusters  crowded  together  form- 
ing a  one-sided  plume  gracefully  curved.  This  spe- 
cies possesses  the  most  brilliant  color  of  all  the 
golden-rods ;  it  rarely  reaches  a  height  of  over  two 
feet,  and  is  common  beside  the  road  and  in  the 
pastures.  Its  thinly  leaved,  single  stem  is,  on  the 


234    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


average,  eighteen   inches  high.      Not   found   at  the 
seaside. 

5.  Solidago  Ucolor.     White  golden-rod.     Blooms 
about  the  tenth  of  August.     Leaves   feather- veined, 

rough-hairy,  especially  the  veins  on  the 
under    surface,   only    sparingly   toothed, 
and  dark  olive-green   above;   the  lower 
ones  quite  large,  elliptical,  and  pointed  at 
both   ends ;    the  upper   ones   small   and 
lance- shaped.      Stem   straight,   generally 
simple,    and   covered   with   soft   grayish 
hairs.      Flower   yellow-cream   color, 
with  from  five  to  fourteen  white 
rays  ;    in   effect    remotely   resem- 
bling the  color  tone  of  mignonette. 
Flower  clusters  growing  from  the 
junction   of    the   leaves   with   the 
plantstem  short,  and  crowding  into 
a  cylindrical  spike  at  the  top  of  the 
plant.     This  species  is  not  showy ;  it 
is  common  on  dry  ground. 

6.  Solidago  lanceolata.     Lance-leaved  golden-rod. 
Blooms  on  or  before  the  tenth  of  August.     Leaves 
light  green,  three-ribbed,  sometimes  five-ribbed,  with- 
out teeth,  and  extremely  narrow  willow-shaped ;  the 
edges   scratchy-rough.      Stem    straight,    angular    in 
section  (the   ridges  which  run  lengthwise  with  the 


GOLDEN-ROD  AND  ASTERS. 


235 


stem  are  minutely  rough),  and  terminating  in  a  ra- 
diating, much-branched  flower  cluster.  Flower  tiny, 
in  little  crowded  clusters,  with  fifteen 
to  twenty  short  rays,  light  golden 
yellow.  Flower  clusters  flat- topped 
and  not  showy  in  color,  supported  by 
small -leaved,  wiry  stems.  This  species 
is  common  on  river  banks,  in  wet  shaded 
places,  and  on  the  borders  of  woods ;  it 
grows  from  two  to  three  feet  high. 

7.  Solidago     Canadensis.      Canada 
golden-rod.     Blooms  about  the  middle 
of  August.     Leaves  three-ribbed,  rough - 
hairy,  sharply  toothed,  and  deep  green  ; 
sometimes  they  are  almost  without  teeth. 
Beneath,  they  are  always  covered  with 
soft,   downy  hairs.      Stem   rough-hairy, 

stout,  and  hardly  cylindrical.  Flower  small,  green- 
ish golden  yellow,  with  from  five  to  seven  short 
rays.  Flower  clusters  spread  with  graceful  curves 
in  an  ample  plume  sometimes  one-sided.  A  very 
common  species  on  the  borders  of  roads,  thickets, 
and  fields,  varying  greatly  in  the  roughness  and 
hairiness  of  stem  and  leaf,  and  growing  from  three 
to  six  feet  high.  Not  found  at  the  seaside. 

8.  Solidago    rugosa.      Rough-stemmed    golden- 
rod.     Blooms  about  the  middle  of  August.     Leaves 


S.  lanceolata. 


236    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


feather  veined,  deeply  toothed,  very   veiny,  exceed- 
ingly rough  and   hairy,  and   dark  green ;    in  form 
variable,    from   broad   lance-shaped   to   elliptical  or 
oblong.      Stem    straight,  cylindrical, 
thickly  beset  with  leaves,  and  much 
branched  at  the  top.      Flower 
light  golden  yellow,  with  from 
six  to  nine  rays.     Flower  clus- 
ters   not   remarkable    in    color, 
much  beset  on  the  branchlets  with 
little  leaves,  spreading,  and   formed 
of  minor  clusters  about  three  inches 
in  length.     A   very  common  species 
found  on  shady  borders  of  the  road, 
presenting  a  great   variety   of    forms, 
chief  among  which  is   the  cluster  of 
leafy  branchlets    terminating  a  leafy, 
stocky  stem  ;    it   grows  from  one  .to  six 
feet  high. 

9.  Solidago  ulmifolia.  Elm -leaved 
golden-rod.  Blooms  about  the  middle  of 
August.  Gray  says  of  this  species,  "  Too 
near  S.  rugosa  ;  distinguished  only  by  its  smooth  stem 
and  thin,  larger  leaves."  The  upper  branchlets  are 
hairy,  and  the  flower  has  about  four  rays.  This  spe- 
cies is  common  in  low  copses  near  streams  which  pass 
beneath  the  road  ;  it  grows  about  three  feet  high. 


S.  rugosa. 


GOLDEN-ROD  AND  ASTERS.  237 

10.  Solidago  odor  a.     Sweet  golden-rod.     Blooms 
about  the  middle  of  August.     Leaves  bright  green, 
indistinctly  three-ribbed,  smooth,  or  very  nearly  so, 
without  teeth,  shining,  and  somewhat  dotted.     Stem 
slender  and  usually  smooth,  often  reclining,  and  near- 
ly  cylindrical.      Flower   small,    with   three   or  four 
large,  golden -yellow  rays.     Flower  clusters  spreading 
in   one-sided,   rather    small    plumes.      The   crushed 
leaves  of  this  species  yield  a  pleasant  aniselike  odor. 
S.  odora  is  common  in  dry  and  sandy  soil,  particular- 
ly near  the  coast ;  it  frequently  occurs  in  the  pine 
barrens  of  New  Jersey.     It  grows  from  two  to  three 
feet  high. 

11.  Solidago   ccesia.      Blue-stemmed  golden-rod. 
Blooms  about  the  first  of  September.     Leaves  dark- 
green,   feather-veined,    smooth,    distinctly    toothed, 
lance-shaped,  and   pointed.      Stem    slender,  slightly 
angular,    covered    with    a    plumlike    purple    bloom, 
reclining,  and    often  much-branched.      Flower  very 
large,  bright  golden  yellow,  with  from  three  to  five 
large  rays  a  full  sixteenth  of  an  inch  broad.     Flower 
clusters  small  and  hemispherical  or  oblong,  like  those 
of  the  lilac  ;  they  are  arranged  along  the  curved  stem 
at   the  points   from   which   the  leaves   grow.     This 
species,  although  not  particularly  effective,  is  one  of 
the  handsomest  of  all ;  it  loves  the  shady,  wooded 
roadside,   and   grows   about    three  feet   high.      We 


238    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

should  know  it  at  once  by  its  bluish  stem  and  ex- 
ceptionally large,  light-yellow  florets. 

12.  Solidago  latifolia.  Broad-leaved  golden-rod. 
A  species  similar  to  the  preceding,  and  blooming  at 
the  same  time.  Leaves  deep  green,  feather-veined, 
broadly  oval,  sharply  toothed,  and  conspicuously 
pointed  at  both  ends.  Stem  smooth,  without  the 
blue  bloom,  angled,  zigzag,  arid  generally  simple,  but 
sometimes  branching  at  the  tip.  Flowers  light  gol- 
den yellow  with  but  three  or  four  rays.  Flower 
clusters  small  and  arranged  along  the  stem  like 
8.  ccesia.  This  species  is  also  common  on  woodland 
borders. 

Blooming  at  the  same  time  with  several  of  the 
golden-rods,  we  will  see  a  dozen  kinds  of  asters 
purpling  the  roadside  with  a  handsome  array  of 
starry  blossoms.  Of  the  forty  more  or  less  common 
species  which  we  meet  with  East  and  West,  there 
are  a  few  which  we  will  find  both  attractive  and  inter- 
esting. These  I  will  describe  in  the  same  system- 
atic manner  as  I  have  the  golden-rods. 

1.  Aster  Novae- Anglice.  New  England  aster. 
Blooms  in  late  August.  Leaves  very  numerous, 
lance-shaped,  sharp-pointed,  without  teeth,  minutely 
hairy,  and  slightly  clasping  the  stem.  Stem  stout 
and  hairy.  Flower  pale  violet  (rarely  magenta-pur- 
ple), as  large  as  a  silver  quarter,  or  larger ;  numerous, 


GOLDEN-ROD  AND  ASTERS. 


239 


and  widely  distributed  over  the  stems.  Common  on 
moist  ground.  The  most  -  familiar  wild  aster,  now 
extensively  cultivated. 

2.  Aster  Novi-Belgii.     Willow-leaved  blue  aster. 
Blooms  in  September.     Leaves  narrow,  lance-shaped, 
without  teeth  or  with  a  very  few, 

usually  a  trifle  hairy  ;  sometimes 
quite  rough  above,  and  in  a 
few  forms  wholly  smooth, 
the  upper  ones   somewhat 
clasping  the  stems.      Stem 
smooth    or    slightly   hairy. 
Flower  bluish  violet,    showy, 
as  large  as  a  silver  half   dol- 
lar ;  the  little  green  scales  un- 
derneath   loose.      This    species  is 
common   along  the   Atlantic   bor- 
der ;  it  blooms  late,  and  is  rarely 
over  two  feet  high. 

3.  Aster  puniceus.       Purple- 
stemmed  aster.     Blooms  about  the    Aster 
first  of  September.      Leaves   very 

rough-hairy,  oblong  lance-shaped,  very  slightly  nar- 
rowed at  the  stem-clasping  base,  pointed,  without 
teeth,  nearly  smooth  beneath,  and  dull  green.  Stem 
stout,  rough -hairy,  and  madder -purple,  particularly 
below.  Flower  lilac-purple  or  paler,  as  large  as  a 


240    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

silver  quarter  or  larger,  the  little  narrow  green  scales 
beneath  sharp  -  pointed  and  loose.  An  extremely 
common  but  variable  species  found  in  low  thickets 
and  swamps,  from  three  to  seven  feet  high. 

4.  Aster  radula.     Rough -leaved  aster.      Blooms 
in  late  August.     Leaves  oblong  lance-shaped,  pointed, 
sharply  toothed  in  the  middle,  very  finely  rough  on 
both  sides,  and  absolutely  stemless.     Stem  smooth  or 
slightly    hairy,    many-leaved.      Flower    pale    violet, 
about  an  inch  and  a  quarter  in  diameter,  with  short 
spreading  green   tips   beneath.     A  common    species 
on  low  grounds,  usually  about  twenty  inches  high  ; 
frequently  lower. 

5.  Aster  patens.     Spreading  aster.     Blooms  about 
the  middle  of  August.     Leaves  ovate  oblong,  or  some- 
times longer,  rough  above  and  on  the  margins,  with- 
out teeth   (or   very    rarely   with    small    ones),   and 
stemless.      Stem   rough-hairy,   terminating    in   slen- 
der  branchlets    which    bear    the    flowers.      Flower 
purple,  with  spreading,  pointed  green  tips  beneath  ; 
it  measures  an  inch  and  a  half  across.     This  species 
is  common  on  the  shaded  borders  of  the  highway, 
usually  on  dry  ground  ;  it  grows  from  one  to  three 
feet  high. 

6.  Aster  undulatus.    Wavy-leaved  aster.    Blooms 
about  the  middle  of  August.     Upper   leaves  ovate 
lance-shaped,  with  wavy  or  slightly  toothed  margins, 


GOLDEN-ROD  AND  ASTERS. 

roughish  above,  downy  beneath,  the  topmost  ones 
stem-clasping.  Lower  leaves  without  teeth,  pointed, 
heart-shaped,  with  long  stems  which  flare  out  widely 
at  the  base  and  clasp  the  stem  of  the  plant.  Stem 
grayish,  covered  with  finest  hairs.  Flower  lavender- 
purple,  about  an  inch  and  an  eighth  in  diameter.  A 
species  also  common  in  dry  shady  places  by  the  road, 
growing  usually  twenty  inches  high. 

7.  Aster  cordifolius.    Heart-leaved  aster.   Blooms 
early  in  September.     Leaves  on  the  lower  part  of  the 
stem  heart-shaped   and   toothed ;    those   above   nar- 
rower and  much  less  toothed.     Both  leaf  and  stem 
of  plant  variable  as  to  smoothness  or  rough-hairiness. 
Flower  extremely  small,  about  three  quarters  of  an 
inch  in  diameter,  lilac,  and  blue-lavender,  crowded  in 
dense   clusters   like   lilacs.      A  common   species   on 
wooded  banks,  growing  not  over  two  feet  high.     A 
variety  frequently   found    on   the   roadsides   of  the 
White  Mountain  region,  bears  nearly  white  flowers 
about  five  eighths  of   an  inch  in    diameter,  narrow 
leaves,  and  grows  about  eight  inches  high. 

8.  Aster  spectabilis.     Showy  aster.     Blooms  from 
early  September  to  November.     Leaves  oblong  lance- 
shaped,  rough,  mostly  without  teeth,  only  the  lower 
ones   obscurely  toothed.      Stem   roughish.      Flower 
showy,  bright  light  violet,  with  about   twenty  rays 

nearly  an  inch  long.     Very  few  flowers  on  the  stems. 
17 


242    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

This  species,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all,  is  con- 
fined to  the  seacoast ;  its  range  is  from  Massachu- 
setts to  Delaware.  It  grows  from  one  to  two  feet 
high. 

The  most  familiar  species  of  white  asters  are  the 
following : 

9.  Aster  panioulatus.  White,  panicled  aster. 
Blooms  about  the  middle  of  August.  Leaves  dark 
green,  smooth  or  nearly  so, 
broad  lance-shaped,  sharply 
toothed,  the  upper  ones 
less  conspicuously  toothed. 
Stem  stout  and  much- 
branched.  Flower  white  or 
very  nearly  so,  about  an  inch 
in  diameter,  crowded  in  flat  clus- 
ters. A  very  tall  species,  from  three 
to  eight  feet  high,  common  on  moist, 
Aster  panicuiatus.  shaded  banks. 

10.  Aster  umbellatus.  Tall,  white 
aster.  Blooms  about  the  middle  of  August,  and 
Southward  earlier.  Leaves  long,  lance  -  shaped, 
smooth,  taper-pointed  and  tapering  at  the  base,  gen- 
erally without  teeth.  Stem  smooth,  stout,  leafy  to 
the  top.  Flowers  numerous,  white,  with  but  few 
rays,  the  short  green  scales  beneath  rather  close  and 
obtuse ;  the  clusters  are  fiat-topped.  This  species  is 


GOLDEN-ROD  AND  ASTERS.  243 

common  beside  moist  thickets ;   it  grows  from  two 
to  seven  feet  high. 

11.  Aster    corymbosus.      Slender,    white    aster. 
Blooms    very    early,    from    July    to    the    first    of 
September.      Leaves  ovate,  lower    ones   heart-shape 
based,  thin,  smoothish,  coarsely  and  unevenly  sharp- 
toothed,  taper-pointed,  and  olive-green.     Stem  slen- 
der and  somewhat  zigzag.      Flowers  with  from  six 
to  nine  white   rays  borne  in  small  loose 
clusters.      This    species  is  common  in 

woods  and  beside  the  woodland  road  ; 
it  grows  from  one  to  two  feet  high, 
and  is  not  showy. 

12.  Aster  ericoides.  White, 
heathlike  aster.     Blooms  from 
the  middle  of  August,  or  earlier, 
to  late  September.      Leaves  tiny 

and     slightly     hairy,    narrowly        Aster  ericoides. 
lance  -  shaped    and    light  green. 
The  lower  ones  are  broader  at  the  upper  end  ;  rarely 
they  are  toothed.      The  stem  is  nearly  smooth  and 
set  with  spreading  branches.     The  tiny  white  flowers 
resemble  miniature  daisies  ;  the  clusters  terminate  the 
erect  branchlets.     This  beautiful  little  aster  is  com- 
mon in  dry  open  places  of  certain  localities  in  New 
England.      It  is   familiar  on   the   roadsides   of  the 
South  and  West,  and  in  many  a  stony  field  its  white, 


FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

starry  clusters  mingle  with  the  yellow  plumes  of  the 
gray  golden-rod. 

The  colors  of  the  roadside  in  September  are  ex- 
actly the  reverse  of  what  they  were  in  early  June.* 
The  asters  and  golden -rods  are  now  tinting  it  with 
purple  and  yellow,  two  colors  which  are  strikingly 
beautiful  in  combination  wTith  the  greenish  gray  of 
stone  walls  and  rocky  ledges,  which  are  rapidly  com- 
ing into  plainer  view  with  the  thinning  of  the  foliage. 
The  swampy  hollow,  which  some  time  ago  was  lined 
with  the  white  of  daisies  and  the  gold  of  buttercups, 
is  now  swept  broadly  by  the  sober,  grayish  lilac  of 
the  purple-stemmed  aster ;  the  meadow  has  exchanged 
its  emerald  hue  for  a  less  vivid,  warm  rusty-green ; 
the  white-blossomed  hedge  is  no  longer  white,  but 
yellow  with  the  plumes  of  the  Canada  golden-rod  ; 
and  the  borders  of  the  highway,  once  monotonously 
green,  are  now  decked  in  a  thousand  tints  of  golden 
yellow,  lilac,  purple,  lavender,  pale  scarlet-orange, 
pink,  and  rusty-red — a  mosaic  of  infinite  beauty  on 
a  sunny  day. 

*  The  prevailing  colors  of  June  are,  of  course,  the  bright 
green  of  foliage  and  the  pink  of  roses. 


CHAPTEE  XYI. 

AUTUMN    FLOWERS,    SQUIRRELS,    AND    AUTUMN    COLORS. 

EARLY  in  the  autumn,  on  the  shady  roadside 
where  the  golden -rod  grows,  it  is  quite  likely  that  we 
shall  find  the  pretty  three-leaved  vine  called  the  hog 
peanut  (Amphicarpcea  monoicd)  twisting  its  stems 
about  every  available  tall  weed.  It  is  one  of  those 
peculiar  plants  which  has  two  kinds  of  flowers — a 
pretty  little  lilac  one  in  a  nodding  cluster  which  rarely 
ripens  fruit,  and  a  subterranean  one  without  petals 
and  somewhat  pear-shaped,  from  which  results  a  seed 
resembling  a  peanut.  The  leaves  are  very  light  green 
and  without  gloss.  The  name,  which  is  derived  from 
the  Greek,  signifies  "both  kinds  of  fruit,"  as  the  flower 
above  ground  occasionally  produces  a  miniature  pea- 
like  pod  containing  three  or  four  seeds  in  addition  to 
the  one  beneath  ground  which  produces  the  "  pea- 
nut." There  is  still  another  similar  vine  called  the 

groundnut  or  wild  bean  (Apios  tu~berosa\  which  we 

245 


246    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

will  find  climbing  over  the  roadside  thickets.  This 
is  the  one  that  Whittier's  barefoot  boy  could  find  for 
us  as  easily  as  a  botanist ;  he  knew  better  than  any- 
one else 

Where  the  groundnut  trails  its  vine. 

It  bears  from  three  to  seven  ovate  lance-shaped 
leaflets,  and  rich  clusters  of  beanlike  blossoms,  dull 
purple-brown  in  color,  and  somewhat  violet-scented  ; 
they  bloom  in  late  summer  and  through  September. 
The  groundnut  is  quite  common  in  low  ground 
through  the  North,  from  Maine  to  Minnesota.  I 
have  drawn  with  the  vine  a  bit  of  Whittier's  coun- 
try ;  a  glimpse  of  the  beautiful  Merrimac  Eiver  not 
far  from  Newburyport,  Mass. 

Among  our  blue  wild  flowers  there  are  none  pret- 
tier than  the  gentians  which  appear  in  the  autumn 
months.  The  fringed  gentian  (Gentiana  crinita)  is 
the  most  beautiful  of  the  species,  although  I  do  not 
consider  its  color  as  striking  as  that  of  some  of 
the  other  less  handsomely  formed  gentians.  The 
"fringed  lids,"  as  Bryant  calls  them,  of  this  flower 
constitute  its  essential  point  of  beauty. 

The  common  closed  gentian  (Gentiana  A.ndrew- 
sii)  is  far  more  interesting  in  color  if  not  in  charac- 
ter ;  the  blue  is  variable  and  is  broken  by  plaits  of 
white  where  the  corolla  is  folded  together.  The 
flower  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  puzzling  and  in- 


MERRIMAC 
NEAR 

NEWBURYPORT, 
MASS. 

GROUND   NUT, 
APIOS   TUB  EROS  A. 


AUTUMN  FLOWERS,   SQUIRRELS.  247 

teresting  subjects  of  our  floral  world.  How  the  blos- 
som is  fertilized,  whether  it  depends  entirely  upon 
itself  or  upon  insects  for  the  proper  disposition  of  its 
pollen,  is  a  question  which  has  never  been  satisfac- 
torily answered.  But  a  casual  glance  at  the  flower 
persuades  us  to  believe  that  it  takes  care  of  itself. 
If  we  doubt  its  conservative  character,  let  us  try  to 
force  our  way  to  the  stamens  and  learn  how  difficult 
the  task  is,  for  the  corolla  must  be  torn  to  pieces  to 
do  so.  Yet  the  bumblebee  finds  a  way  in.  This 
persistent  little  plunderer  will  take  a  flower  by  storm- 
ing the  citadel  if  necessary !  Mr.  Clarence  M.  "Weed 
has  witnessed  the  struggle,  and  I  quote  what  he  says : 
""With  some  difficulty  it  thrust  its  tongue  through 
the  valves  of  the  nearest  blossom  ;  then  it  pushed  in 
its  head  and  body  until  only  the  hind  legs  and  the 
tip  of  the  abdomen  were  sticking  out.  In  this  posi- 
tion it  made  the  circuit  of  the  blossom  and  then 
emerged,  resting  a  moment  to  brush  the  pollen  from 
its  head  and  thorax  into  the  pollen  baskets  before 
flying  to  a  neighboring  aster."  Gray  has  also  said 
that  he  has  seen  the  bumblebee  force  its  way  into  a 
closed  gentian,  but  during  a  number  of  seasons  1  have 
watched  in  vain  to  catch  the  robber  in  the  act. 

Still  another  beautiful  blue  flower  we  will  find 
common  in  the  Northwest ;  this  is  Gentiana  pube- 
rula,  whose  color  is  equal  to  the  azure-violet  of  the 


248    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

sky  at  sundown  on  a  cold  September  evening.  The 
corolla  is  vase-shaped,  topped  by  five  pointed  divi- 
sions. The  plant  is  from  eight  to  fifteen  inches  high, 
and  the  stem  is  mostly  rough  with  tiny  fine  hairs  at 
the  top.  The  leaves  are  stiff  and  long  lance-shaped. 
This  species  of  gentian  is  common  in  the  vicinity  of 
Minneapolis,  the  Minnehaha  Falls  in  the  country  of 
Hiawatha,  and  on  the  dry  borders  of  the  great  wheat- 
fields  of  Minnesota.  The  soap  wort  gentian  (Gentiana 
Saponarid)  is  another  Western  species  which  we  will 
occasionally  see  on  the  roadsides  near  damp  woods 
from  New  York  west  to  Minnesota.  The  light  lilac - 
blue  corolla  is  but  slightly  open,  and  the  five  blunt 
lobes  or  divisions  are  almost  erect.  The  leaves  are 
broad  lance-shaped  and  rough-edged.  The  stem  is 
smooth  and  about  a  foot  or  eighteen  inches  high.  • 

The  five-flowered  gentian  (Gentiana  quinqueflora] 
is  a  slender-stemmed  branching  plant  with  broad 
lance-shaped  leaves  partly  clasping  the  stem,  and 
clusters  of  five  flowers  at  the  summit,  pale  lilac- 
blue  ;  the  corolla  is  funnel-formed  with  five  bristle- 
tipped  lobes.  This  flower  is  found  on  hillsides  from 
Maine  to  Illinois ;  it  grows  in  the  vicinity  of  Lake 
Mohunk,  and  commonly  through  the  Shawangunk 
Mountains.  It  is  also  found  in  the  northern  hills 
of  New  Jersey. 

Whoever  heard  of  a  stone  wall  bordering  the  hill- 


LAKE  HARRIET,   MINNEAPOLIS 
HENNEPIN  CO.,   MINN. 


AUTUMN  FLOWERS,   SQUIRRELS.  240 

side  highway  which  passes  through  the  North  country 
without  its  chipmunk  ?  Perhaps  the  zigzag  rail  fence 
may  enjoy  the  exclusive  reputation  of  being  a  dis- 
tinctly American  institution,  but  the  green-gray  stone 
wall,  with  its  bittersweet,  squirrel,  and  woodchuck,  I 
consider  no  less  a  product  of  American  soil.  The 
like  of  it  we  will  not  see  in  the  old  country. 

Italy  is  full  of  glaring,  plastered,  forbidding  walls 
and  barren,  walled-in  roads  with  never  a  touch  of 
rural  life  or  interest  for  passing  travelers.*  The 
country  is  worn  out  with  the  poverty  of  its  inhab- 
itants, and  exhausted  of  every  green  thing  that  ought 
to  grow  on  the  wayside. 

We  do  not  appreciate  our  native  land,  with  its 
wealth  of  green  plants  and  its  multitude  of  trees, 
nor  do  we  realize  the  boundless  life  and  liberty  of 
our  fields  and  woods  and  open  roads.  The  ferns, 
golden-rods,  asters,  and  gentians  which  grow  by  the 
wayside,  the  birds  and  squirrels  which  scamper  over 
the  fence  rails,  the  woodchuck  who  burrows  beneath 
the  stone  wall,  the  pretty  green  snake  which  winds 
sinuously  among  the  grassy  borders,  the  tree  cricket, 
and  the  piping  hyla — these  all  testify  to  an  abundance 
of  wild  life  which  is  unknown  in  the  old  country. 


*  I  might  add  also  that  they  lack  bucolic  interest,  but  for  the 
fact  that  Italian  shepherds  do  exist ! 


250    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

Our  little  striped  squirrel  or  chipmunk  *  (Tamias 
striatus)  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  creatures  of 
his  kind  in  the  world.  His  color  is  chestnut-red,  and 
down  his  back  run  three  distinct, 
almost  black  bands  with  the  two 
outermost  marked  down  the  middle 
with  a  line  of  white.  The  little  creature 
is  astonishingly  spry  and  moves  with  a 
jerk  or  else  sits  upright  with  his  hands 
crossed  before  his  breast.  His  tail  is 
narrow  and  not  very  long ;  indeed,  he  is 
altogether  different  from  the  pictures 
which  we  see  in  English  books  of  the 
European  squirrel  (Sciurus  vulqaris). 

The  Chipmunk. 

He  is  passably  tame,  and  I  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  watching  him  for  hours  together  at  a  distance 
of  not  more  than  four  feet  as  I  am  at  work  in  my  gar- 
den. Should  I  happen  to  be  in  his  path  he  will  not 
trouble  himself  to  take  a  circuitous  route,  but  will 
skip  fearlessly  across  my  toes.  Of  sunflower  seeds 
he  is  extremely  fond,  and  the  butternuts  which  are 

*  This  is  the  so-called  Eastern  chipmunk.  The  four-striped 
chipmunk  (T.  quadrivittus)  is  commonest,  perhaps,  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley,  and  is  more  widely  distributed  over  the  country  ;  he 
has  four  whitish  stripes  upon  his  back  inclosed  within  five  black 
ones.  Of  course,  the  stripes  of  T.  striatus  can  be  counted  as  five 
black  and  two  white,  as  well  as  the  three  compound  stripes  I  have 
described. 


AUTUMN  FLOWERS,  SQUIRRELS.  251 

so   common   among   the   old    pasture    lands   of    the 
southern  White  Mountains  are  his  trees  of  plenty. 

The  chipmunk  is  a  stone  wall  squirrel.  He  is  a 
very  poor  tree  climber,  and  when  he  meets  the  red 
squirrel  on  a  low  bough  he  instantly  concedes  to  him 
the  right  of  way.  But  on  the  stone  wall  he  will 
chase  his .  red  cousin  from  Dan  to  Beersheba,  al- 
though I  have  never  yet  found  him  engaged  in  a 
fight  to  protect  his  right  of  eminent  domain.  On 
the  contrary,  I  have  long  since  concluded  that  the 
chickaree  or  red  squirrel*  (Sciurus^  Hudsonius), 
quite  a  little  larger  than  the  chipmunk,  and  of  an 
even,  burnt  sienna-red  color,  with  a  black  streak 
on  his  flank,  is  an  aggressive  and  quarrelsome 
individual,  disposed  to  attack  his  chipmunk  cousin 
or  one  of  his  own  species  on  the  slightest  provo- 
cation. I  have  seen  him  chase  another  squirrel 
around  the  trunk  of  a  butternut,  which  was  his 
castle  and  home,  no  less  than  twenty-five  times  in 
the  space  of  half  a  minute.  He  has  a  noble  fashion 
of.  vociferously  claiming  whole  tracts  of  wooded 
country  as  exclusively  his  own — at  least  we  may  be- 
lieve so  if  we  have  learned  to  understand  his  words 

*  His  range  is  throughout  North  America  as  far  as  the  forests 
extend. 

f  This  name  in  Greek  means  "he  who  is  under  the  shadow  of 
his  tail,"  which  hardly  applies  to  our  short-tailed  chipmunk  and 
chickaree. 


252    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

and  actions.  On  the  highway  he  is  a  bit  more  re- 
spectful and  does  not  attempt  to  interfere  with  a 
passing  wheelman,  but  in  the  woods  he  swears 
roundly  at  any  base  intruder.  Somebody  has  lik- 
ened his  scolding  to  the  winding  of  a  clock — a  not 
far-fetched  simile  ;  but  what  an  outrageously  asth- 
matic clock,  and  what  a  dreadful  need  of  grease  on 
the  mainspring !  When  we  enter  the  wood  in  nom- 
inal possession  of  the  red  squirrel  this  is  about  the 
kind  of  greeting  we  may  expect :  "  Wretches ! 
wretches — both,  chuck  which,  chuck  which,  chuck 
which,  chuck  'em  out !  quick,  quick,  quick  !  Chuck 
which-which-chuck- which,  chuck-which,  chuck  which, 
chuck  'em  both  out  quick,  quick,  quick,  chuck— 
and  with  a  whistle  of  alarm  he  disappears  around 
the  other  side  of  the  tree  just  as  a  pebble  has  been 
sent  within  a  yard  of  his  saucy  chin!  The  red 
squirrel's  voice  is  threatening ;  there  is  no  mistaking 
the  fury  of  his  wrath  which  visibly  quakes  his  whole 
body  to  the  very  tip  of  his  tail. 

The  large  gray  squirrel  (Sciurus  Carolinensis)  I 
do  not  find  as  plentiful  in  Campton  as  the  other  two 
species ;  for  several  seasons  past,  very  few  have  ap- 
peared in  the  wood  or  on  the  roadside.  In  Roxbury, 
a  part  of  Boston,  they  are  quite  common  among  the 
trees  on  some  of  the  old  estates,  and  they  are  often 
seen  in  the  hemlock  grove  in  the  Arnold  arboretum. 


AUTUMN  FLOWERS,   SQUIRRELS.  253 

Nothing  can  be  more  graceful  than  their  scalloped 
lines  of  flight  along  a  tree  bough. 

The  gray  squirrel  is  a  sociable  little  animal  who 
likes  the  company  of  a  man  with  a  few  nuts  in  his 
pocket.  One  can  not  walk  across  the  square  in  Rich- 
mond, Va.,  without  encountering  two  or  three  tame 
individuals  who  regard  a  man  as  a  species  of  ani- 
mated nut  tree  created  for  his  especial  benefit ! 

If  we  will  watch  a  squirrel  closely  we  may  ob- 
serve him  tuck  away  two  or  three  small  nuts  in  his 
cheeks  and  carry  another  in  his  teeth.  Last  summer 
one  of  my  friendly  chipmunks  made  six  journeys 
within  two  hours  from  a  certain  corner  of  the  house 
to  his  nest  beneath  a  fence  post  by  the  road,  for  the 
purpose  of  transferring  his  summer  stores.  One 
would  suppose  upon  beholding  his  bulgy  cheeks  that 
he  was  afflicted  with  a  severe  form  of  mumps. 

The  flying  squirrel  (Sciuropterus  volucella)  is  a 
tiny,  gray,  silky-furred  creature,  often  made  a  great 
pet  of.  His  eyes  are  round  and  liquid,  and  his 
chubby  little  face  is  expressively  intelligent.  This 
squirrel  is  a  most  remarkable  trapezist ;  he  takes  a 
flying  leap  from  the  top  of  one  tree  to  another,  and 
covers  forty  or  fifty  feet  with  ease.  It  is  recorded 
that  he  can  leap  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet !  He  is 
active  mostly  at  sundown,  and  sleeps  during  a  greater 
part  of  the  day.  A  little  pet  I  once  owned  would 


254:    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

sleep  comfortably  during  the  day  in  my  pocket  or  the 
elbow  of  my  sleeve,  but  was  ready  for  a  grand  scam- 
per in  the  evening. 

The  flying  squirrel  is  furnished  with  a  marvel- 
ously  expansive  skin  which  greatly  aids  him  in  his 
aerial  exploits.  He  is  common  entirely  across  the 
continent. 

Not  far  from  the  roadside,  by  some  stream  which 
proceeds  from  the  woods,  we  may  possibly  see  the 
splendid  color  of  the  bright-red  flower  called  Oswego 
tea  or  bee  balm  (Monarda  didyma).  But  this  is 
generally  beyond  its  prime  by  the  first  of  Septem- 
ber ;  still,  we  may  find  an  occasional  flower  here 
and  there.  The  blossoms — something  like  those  of 
our  garden  salvia  in  form — are  clustered  at  the  top 
of  the  stem.  This  handsome  wild  flower  is  common 
from  New  England  to  Michigan.  I  have  often  found 
it  on  the  borders  of  damp  woods  in  the  vicinity  of 
Stony  Clove  and  Shandaken,  in  the  southern  Cats- 
kills.  It  has  a  somewhat  hairy,  angled  stem,  and 
opposite-growing,  ovate-pointed  leaves  emitting  an 
aromatic  odor  if  crushed.  The  smaller  leaves  near 
the  flower  cluster  are  tinged  reddish.  Oswego  tea 
and  its  garden  relative,  Salvia  splendens,  which  comes 
from  Brazil,  belong  to  the  Mint  family. 

By  the  close  of  September  we  are  compensated 
for  the  loss  of  the  brighter  wild  flowers  by  the  glo- 


AUTUMN  FLOWERS,   SQUIRRELS.  255 

rious  red,  orange,  yellow,  and  maroon  of  the  turning 
leaves.     The  brilliant  hues  of  autumnal  foliage  are 
produced  mostly  by  the  ac- 
tion   of   the   cold  atmos- 
phere on  the  chlorophyll      ™ 
or  green  matter  in  the 
microscopic     leaf      cell. 
Chlorophyll    is   a   marvel- 
ously  complex   substance  diffi- 
cult to    analyze.       It    is 
found  in  solution  in  an  oil 
which   fills   the   interstices 
of  what  is  called  the   chloro- 
plasts  (the  masses  of  spongy  sub- 
stance which  fill  the  cells  beneath 
the  upper  skin*  of  the  leaf).      By      Oswego  Tea. 
a  chemical  change,  therefore,  the 
green  color  of  a  leaf  is  destroyed,  and  a  red  or  yel- 
low color  takes  its  place.     But  the  scientific  fact  is 
less  interesting  to   us   than  the    aesthetic   result   of 
the  change. 

Any  one  can  see  the  splendid  even  yellow  of  the 
sugar  maple  or  the  sober  scarlet  of  the  red  maple, 
but  it  takes  a  trained  eye  to  discover  all  the  complex- 
ity of  color  that  there  is  on  the  roadside  in  early 
October,  when  the  sky  is  clear  and  blue.  The  gray 
birch  and  the  white  birch  are  turned  a  brilliant  gold- 


256    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

en  yellow ;  the  white  trunks  are  spotted  with  palest 
of  violet-blue  shadows.  The  lichen -covered  rocks  in 
the  stone  wall  are  not  gray,  but  green -gray  of  a  sagey 
tone  spotted  with  bits  of  brownish  crimson.  The 
beech  bole  is  a  mixture  of  pearly  white  and  bluish 
gray,  broadly  spread  with  lilac  shadows,  and  the 
leaves  are  the  palest  possible  Naples  yellow.  The 
Virginia  creeper  (Ampelopsis  quinquefolid)  has 
turned  not  a  pure  crimson,  but  a  deep,  rich,  cardinal 
red  and  maroon,  and  the  berries  with  stems  of  coral- 
red  are  a  misty  cadet- blue.  Everywhere  the  shadows 
on  the  roadside  are  bluish,  and  not  a  hint  of  black 
or  neutral  gray  is  visible.  I  can  not  prove  this,  of 
course,  by  bluntly  asserting  the  fact,  but  I  could  dem- 
onstrate the  truth  of  the  statement  by  the  aid  of 
my  paint-box  and  a  bit  of  white  paper.  If  we  cut  a 
small  hole  in  the  paper  and  at  arm's  length  view  the 
shadow  through  it  we  will  certainly  see  the  blue. 

The  full  color  of  a  tree  or  a  mountain  can  not  ~be 
measured  if  our  attention  is  distracted  by  details  of 
form  which  we  see  with  remarkable  ease.  Subtility 
of  color  is  not  so  readily  perceived.  It  needs  two 
pictures  of  the  maple-lined  road,  one  showing  its 
June  color  and  the  other  its  October  color,  to  prove 
that  the  light  which  shines  in  our  faces  and  the 
shadow  which  lies  ahead  of  us  across  the  road  are 
radically  different  in  these  two  months  because  of 


AUTUMN  FLOWERS,   SQUIRRELS.  257 

the  change  in  color  of  the  leaves.  Light  on  the 
country  road  is  colored  far  more  than  we  think  it 
is,  and  as  a  natural  consequence  the  shadows  are 
colored. 

I  said  that  we  saw  details  of  form  with  astonish- 
ing ease,  and  that  attention  devoted  to  these  pre- 
vented our  seeing  subtility  of  color.  To  prove  this 
let  me  again  suggest  that  we  turn  our  heads  upside 
down  and  look  at  the  distant  trees  and  mountains. 
I  imagine  that  this  will  be  the  best  way  to  wean  our 
eyes  from  petty  details,  and  show  us  a  little  more 
of  the  subtile  color  which  is  present  in  shadows, 
and  the  fire  color  which  illumines  autumn  leaves ; 
there  is  no  mistaking  the  universal  presence  of  it  in 
Nature.  Let  me  quote  the  testimony  of  Ruskin, 
who,  at  least  the  impressionist  must  acknowledge, 
misleads  no  one  in  the  following  statement  about 
shadows :  "  Painters  who  have  no  eye  for  color 
have  greatly  confused  and  falsified  the  practice  of 
art  by  the  theory  that  shadow  is  an  absence  of  color. 
Shadow  is,  on  the  contrary,  necessary  to  the  full 
presence  of  color,  for  every  color  is  a  diminished 
quantity  or  energy  of  light.  And,  practically,  it  fol- 
lows from  what  I  have  just  told  you  (that  every 
light  in  a  painting  is  a  shadow  to  higher  lights, 
and  every  shadow  a  light  to  lower  shadows)  that 

also  every  color  in    painting  must   be  a   shadow  to 
18 


258    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

some  brighter  color,  and  a  light  to  some  darker  one 
— all  the  while  being  a  positive  color  itself."  I  am 
sure  that  the  most  thoughtful  and  considerate  stu- 
dent of  Nature  must  acknowledge  her  prodigal  use 
of  color  nothing  less  than  masterful.  Where  we 
least  expect  to  find  it  there  it  lies  in  an  amazing 
complexity  of  delicacy  and  strength.  Landscape, 
flower,  and  bird  are  suffused  with  no  end  of  it,  and 
but  rarely  if  ever  show  a  hint  of  true  black.* 

In  beast,  bird,  and  fish,  it  is  a  curious  and  invari- 
able fact  that  their  underneath  parts  are  extremely 
pale — almost  white.  Their  safety  is,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, dependent  upon  this  lightened  color  which 
overcomes  the  shadow  that  must  inevitably  throw  the 
creature  into  conspicuous  relief,  and  thereby  render 
its  discovery  by  enemies  the  more  probable.  'Not 
long  since  the  artist  Mr.  Abbott  Thayer,  by  a  series 
of  experiments  with  a  number  of  objects  painted 
light  or  dark  beneath,  demonstrated  the  fact  that 
animals  were  greatly  protected  by  their  underneath 
light  color.  He  proved  that  the  object  painted  light 
beneath  was  lost  to  view  much  sooner  than  the  one 
painted  dark. 

Color  is  a  very  active  and  important  part  of  Na- 

*  Not  even  the  crow  is  truly  black.    I  have  shown  this  in  a 
previous  chapter. 


AUTUMN  FLOWERS,   SQUIRRELS.  259 

ture's  plan  in  the  preservation  of  life  as  well  as  the 
presentation  of  beauty.  The  gentle  little  grass-green 
snake  (Cydoph/ls  vernalis)  glides  harmlessly  through 
the  field  unobserved  except  for  the  disturbance  he 
creates  among  the  weeds  and  grass  leaves.  "Why  he 
is  not  left  alone  it  is  hard  to  understand.  No 
creature  could  possibly  be  more  harmless.  The  cow- 
bird  (Molothrus  ater]  is  far  more  deserving  of  our 
animosity,  for  she  lays  her  eggs  in  other  birds'  nests, 
and  her  young  ones  are  the  cause  of  the  death  of 
many  an  interesting  brood.  If  people  would  only 
learn  to  let  innocent  snakes  and  toads  live,  we  would 
have  our  farmers  complaining  less  of  destructive  in- 
sects and  worms.  Poisonous  snakes  do  not  exist,  so 
far  as  I  know,  among  the  White  Mountains,  and 
during  the  many  seasons  I  have  spent  in  the  Cats- 
kills  and  at  Lake  George  I  have  never  met  more 
than  two  rattlesnakes.  It  may  be  well  enough  to 
kill  these  and  the  treacherous  copperheads,  but  the 
others  should  be  allowed  to  live.  Fully  ninety  per 
cent  of  the  poor  murdered  reptiles  I  have  seen  by 
the  roadside  were  perfectly  harmless,  and  doubtlessly 
their  loss  was  the  gain  of  thousands  of  insects  inju- 
rious to  the  farmers'  crops. 

The  splendid  color  of  the  October  landscape  is 
aesthetic ;  that  of  snakes,  butterflies,  beetles,  birds, 
and  flowers  is  beautiful  only  as  far  as  it  is  brilliant, 


260    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 

or  pure,  or  variegated.  The  atmosphere  throws  a 
veil  of  mystery  over  the  hues  of  mountain,  river, 
meadow,  and  tree  in  autumn,  so  that  there  is  com- 
plexity in  every  tint.  Every  object  is  a  mosaic  of  tiny 
colors,  with  a  bit  of  purple  here,  orange  there,  and 
green  yonder,  as  the  case  may  be.  But  how  is 
one  to  believe  that,  if  color  is  so  impalpable  a  thing 
that  one  must  needs  stand  on  one's  head  to  see  it  ? 
Well,  there  is  no  gain  without  pain.  He  who  is  told 
that  a  certain  thing  is  extraordinary,  must  believe  the 
fact  until  he  knows  the  truth  of  it  by  self -acquired 
knowledge. 

There  is  no  short  road  to  knowledge.  If,  by  the 
wayside,  we  are  unwilling  to  devote  a  great  deal  of 
time  and  attention  to  Nature,  we  must  be  content  to 
travel  blindly  on  without  a  taste  of  that  broader, 
better  life  which  in  seeing  and  knowing  possesses 
all  things.  The  botanist,  the  entomologist,  and  the 
ornithologist  are  in  possession  of  that  greater  knowl- 
edge of  life  which  is  equivalent  to  a  power  over  all 
things.  The  impressionist  has  in  his  possession  the 
key  to  Nature's  mysteries  of  color.  The  power  and 
the  key  are  not  beyond  our  reach. 


INDEX. 


Acer  spicatum,  26. 

Acris  gryllus,  19. 

Adirondack  Mountains,  75. 

Adirondack  woods,  48. 

Agelaius  phoeniceus,  37. 

Ailantus,  26. 

Alder,  12,  124,  126. 

Alder,  Black,  48. 

Alder,  Hoary,  13. 

Alder,  smooth,  14. 

Alder,  Speckled,  13. 

Alder,  White,  82. 

Alnus  incana,  13. 

Alnus  serrulata,  14. 

Alyssum,  Sweet,  213. 

Ambrosia  trifida,  198. 

Amelanchier  Canadensis,  66. 

Ammodramus  Savannarum  passe- 

rinus.  105. 

Ampelopsis  quinquefolia,  256. 
Amphicarpcea  monoica,  245. 
Anaphalis  margaritacea,  195. 
Andromeda  Mariana,  75. 
Anemone  nemorosa,  4. 
Anemone  quinquefolia,  4. 
Anemone,  Rue,  4. 
Anemone,  Wood,  4. 
Anemonella  thalictroides,  4. 
Anosia  plexippus,  184. 
Anthemis  Cotula,  200. 
Anthony's  Nose,  Hudson  Highlands, 

90. 

Antrostomus  vociferus,  130. 
Apios  tuberosa,  245. 
Apis  Ligustica,  207-210. 


Apis  mellifica,  207. 

Apocynum  androscemi folium,  178. 

Arctostaphylos  alpina,  74. 

Arctostaphylos  Uva-Ursi,  48,  74. 

Arbutus,  trailing,  3,  52,  71. 

Arctium  Lappa,  201. 

Arnold  Arboretum,  68,  76,  114,  148. 

Arrowwood,  35. 

Asarum  Canadense,  10. 

Asclepias  Cornuti,  185. 

Aster  cordifolius,  241. 

Aster  corymbosus,  243. 

Aster  ericoides,  243. 

Aster,  Heart-leaved,  241. 

Aster,  New  England,  238. 

Aster  NovcB-Anglice,  238. 

Aster  Novi-Belgii,  239. 

Aster  paniculatus,  242. 

Aster  patens,  240. 

Aster  puniceus,  239. 

Aster,  Purple-stemmed,  239. 

Aster  radula,  240. 

Aster,  Rough-leaved,  240. 

Aster,  Showy,  241. 

Aster,  Slender  white,  243. 

Aster  spectabilis,  241. 

Aster,  Spreading,  240. 

Aster,  Tall,  white,  242. 

Aster  umbellatus,  242. 

Aster  undulatus,  240. 

Aster,  Wavy-leaved,  240. 

Aster,  White,  heathlike,  243. 

Aster,  White,  panicled,  242. 

Aster,  Willow -leaved  blue,  239. 

Atlantic  County,  N.  J.,  90. 


261 


262    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Atrytone  zabulon,  189. 
Azalea,  Purple,  80. 

Basil,  213. 

Bayberry,  40. 

Bearberry,  48, 74. 

Beetle,  Dogbane,  178. 

Beetle,  Golden,  182. 

Beetle,  Goldsmith,  183. 

Beggar-ticks,  199. 

Benjamin  Bush,  40. 

Betula  populifolia,  222. 

Bidens  frondosa,  199. 

Big  Indian,  Catskill  Mountains,  N.  Y. 

186. 

Bindweed,  Hedge,  182. 
Birch,  Gray,  112,  189,  222,  255. 
Birch,  Yellow,  117. 
Bird  song,  Wagner's,  108. 
Bittersweet,  249. 
Black,  223,  258. 
Blackberry,  High,  54. 
Blackberry,  Low,  54. 
Blackbird,  Red-winged,  37. 
Black-eyed  Susan,  198. 
Bladder  nut,  27. 
Blair,  Campton,  N.  H.,  153. 
Bloodroot,  4. 
Blueberry,  Dwarf,  71. 
Blueberry,  High,  72. 
Blueberry,  Swamp,  72. 
Bluebird,  17,  69,  145. 
Bombus  Pennsylvnnicum ,  215. 
Bombus  vagans,  216. 
Boneset,  192,  213. 
Borage,  213. 

Botanic  Garden,  Harvard,  80. 
Jirunella  vulgaris,  182,  213,  215. 
Bufo  Americanus,  87. 
Bullfinch,  109. 
Bullfrog,  21. 

Bumblebee,  2,  5,180,  215,  247. 
Bunchberry,  29. 
Buprestis  fasciata,  190. 
Burdock,  Common,  201. 
Butterfly,  Black  swallowtail,  184. 
Butterfly,  Black,  yellow-spotted,  184. 
Butterfly,  Monarch,  184. 


Butterfly,  Mormon,  189. 
Butterfly,  Skipper,  188. 
Butterfly,  Tawny  orange,  184. 
Butterfly,  Tiger  swallowtail,  187. 
Butterfly,  White,  186. 
Butterfly,  Yellow,  186. 
Buttonbush,  37. 
Buzzard's  Bay,  81. 

Caltha  palustris,  3. 

Calycanthus  floridus,  28. 

Calycanthus  Icevigatus,  28. 

Campton,  N.  H.,  104,  124,  148,  20& 

Cardinal  grosbeak,  151. 

Cardinalis  cardinalis,  151. 

Carrion  Flower,  175. 

Cassandra  calyculata,  77. 

Cassida  aurichalcea,  182. 

Catbird,  126. 

Catnip,  213. 

Catskill  Mountains,  9,  90,  259. 

Cat-tail  Flag,  57. 

Central  Park,  N.  Y.,  28,  69. 

Cephalanthus  occidentalis,  37. 

Chamomile,  200,  213. 

Cherry,  Bird,  151. 

Cherry,  Choke,  47. 

Cherry,  Dwarf,  46. 

Cherry,  Red,  112. 

Cherry,  Sand,  46. 

Chickadee,  125. 

Chickaree,  251. 

Chicory,  203,  213. 

Chimaphila  umbellata,  83. 

Chiogenes  serpyllifolia,  48,  -73. 

Chipmunk,  250. 

Chlorophyll,  255. 

Chokeberry,  67. 

Chordeiles  Virginianus,  131. 

Chorophilus  triseriatus,  22. 

Chrysanthemum      Leucanthemum, 

200. 

Chrysochus  auratus,  179. 
Cicorium  Intybus,  203. 
Cinquefoil,  50. 
Cladrastis  tinctoria,  189. 
Claytonia  Virginica,  5. 
Clethra  alnifolia,  82. 


INDEX. 


263 


Clinton  River,  Pontiac,  Mich.,  118. 

Clover,  Alsike,  181. 

Clover,  Red,  180,  213,  215. 

Clover,  White,  180,  213. 

Clover,  Yellow  hop,  181. 

Cnicus  arvensis,  202. 

Cnicus  horrididus,  202. 

Cnicus  lanceolatus,  20 2. 

Colias  Philodice,  186. 

Color,  Nature's,  221,  257. 

Colored  light,  224,  257. 

Concord,  Mass.,  80. 

Conocephalus  ensiger,  83,  99. 

Convolvulus  sepium,  182. 

Coptocycla  bicolor,  183. 

Coreopsis,  213. 

Cornel,  Dwarf,  29. 

Cornus  alternifolia,  30. 

Cornus  asperifolia,  31 . 

Cornus  Canadensis,  29. 

Cornus  florida,  29. 

Cornus  paniculata,  31. 

Cornus  sericea,  30. 

Cornus  stolonifera,  30,  226. 

Corvus  Americanus,  142. 

Cotalpa  lanigera,  183. 

Cow,  Bellow  of,  120. 

Cowbird,  259. 

Cranberry,  Common,  73. 

Cratcegus  coccinea,  65. 

Cratcegus  Crus-galli,  65. 

Cratcegus  mollis,  65. 

Cratcegus  oxyacantha,  65. 

Cratcegus punctata,  65. 

Cratcegus  tomentosa,  65. 

Crow,  American,  142,  226. 

Cricket,  Broad-winged  climbing,  91. 

Cricket,  Brown,  97. 

Cricket,  Narrow-winged  tree,  93. 

Cricket,  Snowy  tree,  88. 

Cricket,  Tiny  Spotted,  98. 

Cyanocitta  cristata,  144. 

Cyclophis  vemalis,  259. 

Cydonia  Japonica.  68. 

Daisy,  Common,  200. 
Daisy  Fleabane,  195. 
Danais  archippus,  184. 


Danais  erippus,  184. 
Dandelion,  2,  213. 
Dasyllis  tergissa,  217. 
Dead  Nettle,  213. 
Deerberry,  73. 
Dewberry,  54. 
Dicentra  Canadensis,  10. 
Dicentra  cucullaria,  7. 
Diervilla  trifida,  36. 
Dixville  Notch,  N.  H.,  136. 
Dockmackie,  34. 
Dogbane,  Spreading,  178. 
Dogwood,  Flowering,  29. 
Dogwood,  Poison,  29. 
Draba  verna,  4. 
Dutchman's  breeches,  7. 

Eagle  Cliff,  Franconia  Notch,  91. 
Eglantine,  61. 
Elderberry,  126. 
Elder,  Common,  33. 
Elder,  Red-berried,  34. 
Elecampane,  196. 
Epigcea  repens,  3. 
Erechtites  hieracifolia,  201. 
Erigeron  annuus,  195. 
Erigeron  bellidifolius,  195. 
Erigeron  strigosus,  195. 
Eristalis  flavipes,  217. 
Eugenes  fulgens,  139. 
Eupatorium  ageratoides,  194. 
Eupatorium  perfoliatum,  192. 
Eupatorium  purpureum.  193. 
Eurymus  Philodice,  186. 
Everlasting,  Pearly,  195. 

False  Berch  Drops,  85. 

False  Indigo,  213. 

Fireweed,  201,  213. 

Fragaria  Virginiana,  50. 

Franconia,  N.  H.,  166. 

Franconia  Notch,  N.  H.,  36,  124,  208. 

Franklin  Co.,  Pa.,  28. 

Frog,  Pickering's,  17. 

Frog,  Wood,  24. 

GaJeoscoptes  Carolinensis,  126. 
Gall  of  the  earth,  204. 


204    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Goultheria  procumbens,  48,  75. 
Gaylussacia  resinosa,  72. 
Gentian,  Closed,  246. 
Gentian,  Fringed,  246. 
Gentian,  Soapwort,  248. 
Oentiana  Andrewsii,  246. 
Gentiana  crinita,  246. 
Gentiana  puberula,  247. 
Gentiana  quinqueflora,  248. 
Gentiana  Saponaria,  248. 
Geothlypis  trichas,  123. 
Ginger,  Wild,  10. 
Gloucester  Co.,  N.  J.,  23. 
Gnaphalium  decurrens,  196. 
Gnaphalium  polycephalum,  196. 
Golden  Ragwort,  200. 
Golden-rod,  Blue-stemmed,  237. 
Golden-rod,  Broad-leaved,  288. 
Golden-rod,  Canada,  235,  244. 
Golden-rod,  Elm-leaved,  236. 
Golden-rod,  Gray,  233. 
Golden-rod,  Lance-leaved,  234. 
Golden-rod,  Rough-stemmed,  235. 
Golden-rod,  Sweet,  237. 
Golden-rod,  White,  234. 
Goldfinch,  American,  112. 
Goldfinch,  English,  111. 
Grasshopper,  Common  Meadow,  83, 

96. 

Grasshopper,  Cone-headed,  83,  90. 
Gray  day,  227. 
Ground  Nut,  245. 
Gryllus  abbreviatus,  97. 
Gryllus  luctuosus,  97. 
Gryllus  Pennsylvanicus,  98. 
Gryllus  neglectus,  97. 

Hardhack.  49,  115. 
Harporhyncus  rufus,  159. 
Hawkweed,  203. 
Hawthorn,  English,  65,  213. 
Helenium  autumnale,  200. 
Helianthus  giganteus,  199. 
Hen,  Cackle  of,  121. 
Hendrick  Hudson,  9,  134. 
Hepatica  triloba,  3. 
Hesperia  Pocahontas,  189. 
Hiawatha,  211,  248. 


Hieracium  Canadense,  203. 
Hieracium  scabrum,  204. 
Hieracium  venosum,  203. 
Hobblebush,  36. 
Hog  Peanut,  245. 
Honeybee,  180,  207,  211. 
Honeybee,  Italian,  207-210. 
Honeybee's  sting,  218. 
Honeysuckle,  Bush,  36. 
Honeysuckle,  Fly,  36. 
Honeysuckle,  Swamp,  81. 
Hop  Tree,  Three-leaved,  25. 
Horsemint.  213. 
Huckleberry,  Common,  72. 
Huckleberry,  Squaw,  73. 
Hudson,  Highlands,  88,  90, 
Hudson  River,  10,  52. 
Humblebee,  215. 

Humming  bird,  Rubythroat,  138. 
Huron  River,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich.,  126. 
Hyla  Pickeringii,  17,  39. 
Hyla  versicolor,  23,  38,  86. 

Ichabod  Crane,  21. 

Icterus  galbula,  152. 

Ilex  loevigata,  48. 

Ilex  verticillata,  48. 

Indian   Pass,    Adirondacks,    N.   Y., 

169. 

Indian  Pipe,  9,  71,  85. 
Indian  Poke,  175,  222. 
Indigo  Bird  or  Bunting,  114,  148. 
Inula  Helenium,  196. 
Ironweed,  192,  213. 
Ivy,  Poison,  158,  176. 

Jasoniades  glaucus,  187. 
Jay,  Blue,  40,  126,  144. 
Jay,  Canada,  143. 
Joe-Pye  weed,  193. 
Judas  Tree,  213. 
Juneberry,  66. 

Kalmia  latifolia.  78. 
Katydid,  Augular-winged,  100,  101. 
Katydid,  Concave-winged,  101. 
Keeseville,  N.  Y.,  75. 
Kinnikinic,  30. 


INDEX. 


265 


Labrador  Tea,  81. 

Lake  Erie,  41. 

Lake  George,  N.  Y.,  73,  259. 

Lake  Mahopac,  N.  Y.,  90,  127. 

Lake  Mohunk,  N.  Y.,  248. 

Lake  Placid,  N.  Y.,  169. 

Langstroth,  Lorenzo  Lorraine,  207. 

Laphria  Fly,  217. 

I,ark,  Meadow,  112. 

Larkspur,  213. 

La  Salle  Co.,  111.,  61. 

Laurel,  Great,  80. 

Laurel,  Mountain,  71,  78,  82. 

Leather  leaf,  77. 

Ledum  latifolium,  81. 

Leucothce  racemosa,  76. 

Lexington,  Mass.,  80. 

Lily,  Canada,  226. 

Lindera  benzoin,  40. 

Linncea  borealis,  176. 

Lion's  Foot,  204. 

Liverwort,  3. 

Locust,  Large,  103. 

Locust,  Red-legged,  102. 

Locust,  Short-winged,  104. 

Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  26,  88.  90. 

Lonicera  ciliata,  36. 

Mandrake,  11. 

Manx  cat,  118. 

Maple,  Mountain,  26,  124. 

Maple,  Red,  189,  213,  255. 

Maple,  Sugar,  213,  224,  255. 

Marsh  Marigold,  3. 

Maryland  yellowthroat,  123. 

May  Apple,  11. 

Mayweed,  200. 

Meadowsweet,  49. 

Megascops  asio,  134. 

Melanoplus  atlanis,  102. 

Melanoplus  bivittatus,  197. 

Melanoplus  femur-rubrum,  102,  104, 

197. 

Melilot,  Yellow,  181,  213. 
Melilotuf  officinalis,  181. 
Melospiza  fasciat  a,  112. 
Merrimac  River,  N.  H.,  46,  246. 
Merula  migratoria,  155. 


Microcentrum  retinervis,  100. 

Mignonette,  213. 

Milkweed,  Common,  140,  185,  213. 

Minneapolis.  Minn.,  248. 

Minnehaha  Falls,  Minn.,  248. 

Mitchella  repens,  48. 

Molothrus  ater,  259. 

Monarda  didyma,  254. 

Monmouth   County,    N.   J.,    23,  90, 

136. 

Monotropa  Hypopitys,  85. 
Monotropa  uniflura,  85. 
Moonlight  Sonata,  88. 
Moms  rubra,  222. 
Mountain  Ash,  68. 
Mountain  Holly,  48. 
Mount  Kinsman,  N.  H.,  91,  163. 
Mount  Lafayette,  N.  H.,  163. 
Mount  Monadnoc,  N.  H.,  66. 
Mount  Osceola,  143. 
Mount  Pocomoonshinp,  N.  Y.,  75. 
Mount  Prospect,  Holderness,  N.  H., 

45. 

Mount  Washington,  N.  H.,  173. 
Mulberry,  Red,  222. 
Munroe,  Mich.,  61. 
Myrica  asplenifolia,  42. 
Myrica  cerifera,  40. 
Myrica  Gale,  42. 

Nantucket,  Mass  ,  40,  57,  73. 
Nasturtiums,  140. 

Navesink  Highlands,  N.  J.,  90,  101. 
Nemobius  vittatus,  98. 
Nemopanthes  fasciculnris,  48. 
Newburyport,  Mass.,  246. 
Niagara  Falls,  90,  121. 
Night  hawk,  129,  131. 

Oak,  Yellow  Chestnut,  190. 
CEcanthus  angustipennis,  93. 
CEcanthus  fasciatus,  92.  94. 
CEcanthus  latipennis,  91,  94. 
CEcanthus  niveus,  21,  88,  91,  93,  94, 


Orchard  Lake,  Mich..  61. 
Orchelimum  vulgare,  83,  86,  103. 
Oriole,  Baltimore,  136,  152. 


266    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Oswego  Tea,  254. 
Ovenbird,  122. 
Owl,  Screech,  129,  134. 
Oxydendrum  arboreum,  76. 

Papilio  asterias,  184, 

Papilio  polyxenes,  184. 

Papilio  turnus,  187. 

Parsnip,  Early  meadow,  184. 

Parsnip,  Wild,  184. 

Partridge  Berry,  48. 

Parus  atricapillus,  125. 

Passerina  cyanea,  148. 

Pastinaca  sativa,  184. 

Peabody  bird,  171. 

Peacock,  127,  138,  148. 

Peepers,  Spring,  17,  39. 

Pemigewasset  River,  N.  H.,  46. 

Pemigewasset  Valley,  N.  H.,  110,  151. 

166, 178. 

Perisoreus  Canadensis,  143. 
Pewee,  114. 
Pewit,  114. 
Phosbe,  118. 

PJiytolacca  decandra,  158. 
Pier  is  rapce,  186. 
Pinxter  flower,  80. 
Pipsissewa,  83. 
Piranga  erythromelas,  149. 
Plum,  Beach,  46. 
Plum,  Wild,  45. 
Plymouth,  N.  H.,  19. 
Podophyllum  peltatum,  11. 
Pollen,  209. 

Polygala  paucifolia,  176. 
Poppy,  Ranunculus,  210. 
Potentilla,  Canadensis,  50. 
Prenanthes  alba,  205. 
Prenanthes  altissima,  205. 
Prenanthes  racemosa,  206. 
Prenanthes  serpentaria,  204. 
Prince's  Pine,  83. 
Promachus  bastardi,  217. 
Prospect  Park,  Brooklyn,  28,  69. 
Prunus  maritima,  46. 
Prunus  Pennsylvania,  151. 
Prunus  pumila,  46. 
Prunus  Virginiana,  47. 


Ptelea  trifoliata,  25. 

Purple  Finch,  32. 

Purple,  Mountain  sunset,  225. 

Putnam  County,  N.  Y.,  73,  127. 

Pyrola  elliptica,  84. 

Pyrus  Americana,  45,  68. 

Pyrus  arbutifolia,  67. 

Pyrus  Japonica,  68. 

Pyrus  Japonica,  var.  atrosanguina, 

69. 

Pyrus  Japonica,  var.  mallardi,  69. 
Pyrus  Japonica,  var.  moorlosi,  69. 
Pyrus  Japonica,  var.  rosea,  69. 
Pyrus  nigra,  68. 
Pyrus  sambucifolia,  68. 

Queen  bee,  212. 

Queen  of  the  Prairie  (Spiraea),  49. 
Quercus  Muhlenbergii,  190. 
Quince,  Japan,  68. 

Ragweed,  198. 
Rana  Catesbiana.  21. 
Rana  sylvatica,  24. 
Raspberry,  Antwerp,  52. 
Raspberry,  Black,  53. 
Raspberry,  Cuthbert,  52. 
Raspberry,  Purple-flowering,  50. 
Raspberry,  Turner,  52. 
Raspberry,  Wild  red,  51,  213. 
Rattlesnake  root,  Tall,  205. 
Rattlesnake  Weed,  203. 
Red  Osier,  226. 

Rhododendron  arboreum,  79. 
Rhododendron  Catawbiense,  79. 
Rhododendron  maxima.  80. 
Rhododendron  nudiflorum,  80. 
Rhododendron  Ponticum ,  79. 
Rhododendron  Rhodora,  79. 
Rhododendron  viscosum,  81. 
Rhus  toxicodendron,  176. 
Rhus  venenata,  29,  176. 
Richmond.  Va.,  253. 
Rip  Van  Winkle,  9. 
Robber  Fly,  217. 
Robin,  American,  155. 
Robin  Redbreast.  English,  145. 
Robin's  Plantain,  195. 


INDEX. 


267 


Rock  Flower,  4. 
Rooster's  crow,  128. 
Rosa  blanda,  60. 
Rosa  canina,  62. 
Rosa  Carolina,  57. 
Rosa  humilis,  59. 
.Rosa  lucida,  58. 
Rosa  rubiginosa,  61. 
Rosa  rugosa.  63. 
jRosa  setigera,  56. 
.Rosa  spinosissima,  63. 
.Rosa  Wichuraiana,  63. 
Rose,  Baltimore  Belle,  57. 
Rose,  Burnet,  63. 
Rose,  Dog,  62. 
Rose,  Dwarf  wild,  58. 
Rose,  Early  wild,  60. 
Rose,  Japanese,  63. 
Rose,  Memorial,  64. 
Rose,  Prairie,  56. 
Rose,  Scotch,  63. 
Rose,  Shining,  58. 
Rose,  Swamp,  57. 
Rose,  Trailing,  63. 
Rubus  Canadensis,  54. 
Rubus  occidentalis,  53. 
Rubus  odoratus,  50. 
Rubus  strigosus,  51. 
Rubus  villosus,  54. 
Ruby,  Spinel,  137. 
Rudbekia  hirta,  198,  213. 

Saddle  River,  N.  J.,  84,  90. 
Salem  Co.,  N.  J.,  90. 
Salix  cordata,  16. 
Salix  discolor,  14. 
Salix  humilis,  15. 
Salix  lucida,  16. 
Salix  rostrata,  16.  221. 
Salix  tristis,  16. 
Salvia  spJendens,  254. 
Sambucus  Canadensis,  33. 
Sambucus  racemosa,  34. 
Sandwich,  N.  H.,  169. 
Sanguinaria  Canadensis,  4. 
Sankaty  Head,  Nantucket,  57. 
Sassafras,  43. 
Savannah  Cricket,  19. 


Saxifraga  Virginiensis,  4. 

Sayornis  Phcebe,  118. 

Scarlet  Tanager,  111,  149. 

Sciuropterus  volucella,  253. 

Sciurus  Carolinensis,  252. 

Sciurus  Hudsonius,  251. 

Sciurus  vulgaris,  250. 

Seiurus  aurocapillus,  122. 

Self-heal,  182,  213. 

Senecio  aureus,  200. 

Service  berry,  66. 

Shad  bush,  66,  82. 
|  Shamrock,  180. 
|  Shandaken,  N.  Y.,  254. 

Shawangunk  Mountains,  N.  Y.,  248. 

Shin  leaf,  84. 

Sialia  sialis,  145. 

Siasconset,  Nantucket,  Mass.,  40,  57. 

Skunk  Cabbage,  2. 

Sleepy  Hollow,  N.  Y.,  20,  95. 

Smilax  herbacea,  175. 

Snake,  Green,  249,  259. 

Snapdragon,  213. 

Sneezeweed,  200. 

Snowberry,  Creeping,  48,  73. 

Solidago  arguta,  231 . 

Solidago  bicolor,  234. 

Solidago  ccesia,  237. 

Solidago  Canadensis,  235. 

Solidago  juncea,  231. 

Solidago  lanceolata,  234. 

Solidago  latifolia,  238. 

Solidago  nemoralis,  233. 

Solidago  odora,  237. 

Solidago  rugosa,  235. 

Solidago  serotina,  232. 

Solidago  ulmifolia,  236. 

Sorrel  tree,  76. 

Sour  wood,  76. 

Sparrow,  Chipping,  113,  115. 

Sparrow,  English,  113. 

Sparrow,  Field,  113,  116. 

Sparrow,  Song,  112,  149. 

Sparrow,  Swamp,  113. 

Sparrow  Tree,  113, 143. 

Sparrow,  White-throated,  18,  171. 

Sparrow,  Yellow- winged,  105-113. 

Spice  Bush,  40. 


268    FAMILIAR  FEATURES  OF  THE  ROADSIDE. 


Spinus  tristis,  112. 

Spiraea  lobata,  49. 

Spiraea  salicifolia,  49. 

Spiraea  tomentosa,  49,  115. 

Spizella  monticola,  144. 

Spizella  pusilla,  113,  116. 

Spizella  socialis,  115. 

Spring  Beauty,  5. 

Squawweed,  200. 

Squirrel  Corn,  10. 

Squirrel,  European,  250. 

Squirrel,  Flying,  253. 

Squirrel,  Gray,  252. 

Squirrel,  Red,  251. 

Staggerbush,  75. 

Staphylea  trifolia,  27. 

Staten  Island,  N.  Y.,  90. 

Steeple  bush,  49. 

Stenobothrus  curtipennis,  104. 

Stony    Clove,    Catskill    Mountains, 

254. 
Storm    King,    Hudson    Highlands, 

90. 

Strawberry,  Wild.  50. 
Sumach,  Poison,  176. 
Sunflower,  199,  213,  216. 
Swallow,  Barn,  121. 
Sweetbrier,  61. 
Sweet  Fern,  42. 
Sweet  Gale,  42. 
Sweet  pepper  bush,  82. 
Sweet  Scabious,  195. 
Sweet-scented  shrub,  28. 
Symphony,  Fifth,  89,  95. 
Symphony,  Third,  89. 
Symplocarpus  fcetidus,  2. 

Tamias  quadrivittus,  250. 
Tamias  strtatus,  250. 
Thimbleberry,  53. 
Thistle,  Canada,  202,  213. 
Thistle,  Common,  202. 
Thistle,  Tall,  202. 
Thistle,  Yellow,  202. 
Thorn,  Scarlet-fruited,  65. 
Thoroughwort,  213. 
Thrasher,  152,  159. 
Thrush,  Brown,  159. 


Thrush,  Golden-crowned,  122. 
Thrush,  Hermit,   108,   111,   128,  157, 

160,  163. 

Thrush,  Olive-backed,  168. 
Thrush,  Swainson's,  163,  168. 
Thrush,  Tawny,  111,  165. 
Thrush,  Wilson's,  111,  128,  165. 
Thrush,  Wood,  160. 
Titmouse,  Black-capped,  125. 
Toad,  Common,  87. 
Toad,  Tree,  19,  38,  86. 
Toothache  Tree,  25. 
Trifolium  agrarium,  181. 
Trifolium  hybridum,  181. 
Trifolium  pratense,  180. 
Trifolium  repens,  180. 
Trimerotropis  verruculata,  96,  103. 
Trochilus  colubris,  138. 
Tulip  Tree,  19,  213. 
Turdus  Aonalaschkce  Pallasii,  163. 
Turdus  fuscescens,  165. 
Turdus  mustelinus,  160. 
Turdus  ustulatus  Swainsonii,  168. 
Twin  Flower,  176. 
Typha  latifolia,  57. 

Vaccinium  Canadense,  72. 
Vaccinium  corymboaum,  72. 
Vaccinium  macrocarpon,  73. 
Vaccinium  Pennsylvanicum,  71. 
Vaccinium  stamineum,  73. 
Veery,  165. 

Veratrum  viride,  175,  222. 
Vernonia  Noveboracensis,  192. 
Viburnum  acerifolium,  34. 
Viburnum  dentatum,  35. 
Viburnum  lantanoides,  36. 
Viola  cucullata,  7. 
Viola  pubescens,  6. 
Viola  rotundifolia,  6. 
Violet,  Blue,  7. 
Violet,  Downy  yellow,  6. 
Violet,  Round-leaved  yellow,  6. 
Vireo  flavifrons,  170. 
Vireo  olivaceus,  170. 
Vireo,  Red-eyed,  32,  170. 
Vireo,  Yellow-throated,  170. 
Virginia  Creeper,  256. 


INDEX. 


269 


Waterville,  N.  H.,  143. 

Wax  Myrtle,  40. 

Whip-poor-will,  129. 

White  Lettuce,  Common,  205. 

White  Mountains,  N.  H.,  36,  51, 

72,  73,  75,  90,  101,  143,  159,  259. 
White  Mountain  Notch,  36. 
White  Snakeroot,  194. 
Whitelow  grass,  4. 
Wild  Bean,  245. 
Willow,  12. 

Willow,  Dwarf  gray,  16. 
Willow,  Glaucous,  14. 
Willow,  Heart-leaved,  16. 
Willow,  Long-beaked,  16,  221. 


Willow,  Prairie,  15. 
Willow,  Shining,  16. 
Windflower,  4. 
Winterberry,  Smooth,  48. 
Wintergreen,  Common,  48,  75. 
Wintergreen,  Flowering,  176. 
Woodchuck,  249. 
Wood's  Holl,  Mass.,  81. 

Xanthoxylum  Americanum,  25. 

Yellowbird,  109,  114,  149. 
Yellowwood,  189,  213. 

Zizia  aurea,  184. 
Zonotrichia  albicollis,  171. 


THE  END. 


F 


D.   APPLETON  &   CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

AM  I  LIAR  FLOWERS  OF  FIELD  AND 
GARDEN.  By  F.  SCHUYLER  MATHEWS.  Illustrated  with 
200  Drawings  by  the  Author,  and  containing  an  elaborate  Index 
showing  at  a  glance  the  botanical  and  popular  names,  family, 
color,  locality,  environment,  and  time  of  bloom  of  several  hun- 
dred flowers.  I2mo.  Library  Edition,  cloth,  $1.75  ;  Pocket 
Edition,  fbxible  covers,  $2.25. 

In  this  convenient  and  useful  volume  the  flowers  which  one  finds  in  the  fields  are 
identified,  illustrated,  and  described  in  familiar  language.  Their  connection  with  gar- 
den flower;  is  made  clear.  Particular  attention  is  drawn  to  the  beautiful  ones  which 
have  come  under  cultivation,  and,  as  the  title  indicates,  the  book  furnishes  a  ready 
guide  to  a  knowledge  of  wild  and  cultivated  flowers  alike. 

"  I  have  examined  Mr.  Mathews's  little  book  upon  '  Familiar  Flowers  of  Field  and 
Garden,'  and  1  have  pleasure  in  commending  the  accuracy  and  beauty  of  the  drawings 
and  the  freshness  of  the  text.  We  have  long  needed  some  botany  from  the  hand  of  an 
artist,  who  sees  form  and  color  without  the  formality  of  the  scientist.  The  book  deserves 
a  reputation.'' — L,.  H.  Bailey,  Professor  of  Horticulture,  Cornell  University, 

"  I  am  much  pleased  with  your  'Familiar  Flowers  of  Field  and  Garden.'  It  is  a 
useful  and  handsomely  prepared  handbook,  and  the  elaborate  index  is  an  especially 
valuable  part  of  it.  Taken  in  connection  with  the  many  careful  drawings,  it  would 
seem  as  though  your  little  volume  thoroughly  covers  its  subject." — Louis  Prang. 

"  The  author  describes  in  a  most  interesting  and  charming  manner  many  familiar 
wild  and  cultivated  phnts,  enlivening  his  remarks  by  crisp  epigrams,  and  rendering 
identification  of  the  subjects  described  simple  by  means  of  some  two  hundred"  draw- 
ings from  Mature,  made  by  his  own  pen.  .  .  .  The  book  will  do  much  to  more  fully 
acquaint  the  reader  with  those  plants  of  field  and  garden  treated  upon  with  which  he 
may  be  but  partly  familiar,  and  go  a  long  way  toward  correcting  many  popular 
errors  existing  in  the  matter  of  colors  of  their  flowers,  a  subject  to  which  Mr.  Mathews 
has  devoted  much  attention,  and  on  which  he  is  now  a  recognized  authority  in  the 
trade." — New  York  Florists'  Exchange. 

"A  book  of  much  value  and  interest,  admirably  arranged  for  the  student  and  the 
lover  of  flowers.  .  .  .  The  text  is  full  of  compact  information,  well  selected  and  interest- 
ingly presented.  ...  It  seems  to  us  to  be  a  most  attractive  handbook  of  its  kind."— 
New  York  Sitn. 

"A  delightful  book  and  very  useful.  Its  language  is  plain  and  familiar,  and  the 
I'lustrations  are  dainty  works  of  art.  It  is  just  the  book  for  tho  e  who  want  to  be 
familiar  with  the  well-known  flowers,  those  that  grow  in  the  cultivated  gardens  as  well 
aj  those  that  blossom  in  the  fields."— Newark  Daily  Advertiser. 

"  Seasonable  and  valuable.  The  young  botanist  and  the  lover  of  flowers,  who  have 
only  studied  from  Nature,  will  be  greatly  aided  by  this  work." — Pittsburg  Post. 

"  Charmingly  written,  and  to  any  one  who  loves  the  flowers— and  who  does  not? 

will  prove  no  less  fascinating  than  instructive.  It  will  open  up  in  the  garden  and  the 
fields  a  new  world  full  of  curiosity  and  delight,  and  invest  them  with  a  new  inteiest  in 
his  sight."—  Christian  Work. 

"  One  need  not  be  deeply  read  in  floral  lore  to  be  interested  in  what  Mr.  Mathews 
has  written,  and  the  more  proficient  one  is  therein  the  greater  his  satisfaction  is  likely 
to  be.  — New  York  Mail  and  Express. 

"  Mr.  F.  Pchuyler  Mathews's  careful  description  and  graceful  drawings  of  our 
'  Familiar  Flowers  of  Field  and  Garden  '  are  fitted  to  make  them  familiar  even  to  those 
v/ho  have  not  before  made  their  acquaintance."— New  York  Evening  Post. 


New  York  :  D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  72  Fifth  Avenue. 


D.  APPLETON  &  CO.'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

CAM  I  LIAR    TREES    AND    THEIR    LEAVES. 
*•         By  F.  SCHUYLER  MATHEWS,  author  of  "Familiar  Flowers  of 
Field  and  Garden,"  "  The  Beautiful  Flower  Garden,"  etc.     Il- 
lustrated with  over  200  Drawings  from  Nature  by  the  Author. 
I2ino.     Cloth,  $1.75. 

"  It  is  not  often  that  we  find  a  book  which  deserves  such  unreserved  commendation. 
It  is  commendable  for  several  reasons  :  it  is  a  book  that  has  been  needed  for  a  long 
time,  it  is  written  in  a  popular  and  attractive  style,  it  is  accurately  and  profusely  illus- 
trated, and  it  is  by  an  authority  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats." — Public  Opinion. 

"  Most  readers  of  the  book  will  find  a  world  of  information  they  never  dreamed  of 
about  leaves  that  have  long  been  familiar  with  them.  The  study  will  open  to  them 
new  sources  of  pleasure  in  every  tree  around  their  houses,  and  prove  interesting  as  well 
as  instructive." — San  Francisco  Call. 

"A  revelation  of  the  sweets  and  joys  of  natural  things  that  we' are  too  apt  to  pass 
by  with  but  little  or  no  thought.  The  book  is  somewhat  more  than  an  ordinary  botan- 
ical treatise  on  leaves  and  trees.  It  is  a  heart-to  heart  talk  with  Nature,  a  true  appre- 
ciation of  the  beauty  and  the  real  usefulness  of  leaves  and  trees." — Boston  Courier. 

"  Has  about  it  a  simplicity  and  a  directness  of  purpose  that  appeal  at  once  to  every 
lover  of  Nature." — New  York  Mail  and  Express. 

"  Mr.  Mathews's  book  is  just  what  is  needed  to  open  our  eyes.  His  text  is  charm- 
ing, and  displays  a  loving  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  tree  life,  while  the  drawings 
of  foliage  are  beautifully  executed.  We  commend  the  volume  as  a  welcome  companion 
in  country  walks." — Philadilphia  Public  Ledger. 

"The  book  is  one  to  read,  and  then  to  keep  at  hand  for  continual  reference." — 
Chicago  Dial. 

"The  unscientific  lover  of  Nature  will  find  this  book  a  source  of  enjoyment  as  well 
as  of  instruction,  and  it  will  be  a  valuable  introduction  to  the  more  scientific  study  of 
the  subject." — Cleveland  Plain  Dealer. 

"  This  book  will  be  found  most  satisfactory.  It  is  a  book  which  is  needed,  written 
by  one  who  knows  trees  as  he  knows  people." — Minneapolis  Journal. 

"  A  book  of  large  value  to  the  student.  The  reader  gathers  a  wide  and  valuable 
knowledge  which  will  awaken  new  interest  in  every  tramp  through  the  forest." — Chi- 
cag)  Inter-Ocean. 

"A  most  admirable  volume  in  many  ways.  It  meets  a  distinct  and  widely  felt 
want ;  the  work  is  excellently  done  ;  its  appearance  is  very  timely.  .  .  .  Written  in  a 
clear  and  simple  style,  and  requires  no  previous  technical  knowledge  of  botany  to  under- 
stand it."—  Baltimore  Nevus. 

"  This  very  valuablebook  will  be  prized  by  all  who  love  Nature."—  The  Churchman. 

"Of  the  many  Nature  books  that  are  constantly  inviting  the  reader  to  leave  pave- 
ment and  wander  in  country  bypaths,  this  one,  with  its  scientific  foundation,  and  its 
simplicity  and  clearness  of  style,  is  among  the  most  alluring." — St.  Paul  Pioneer-Press. 


New  York :   D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  72  Fifth  Avenue. 


